The Federal Government has announced plans to train and certify 300 National Youth Service Corps members as technicians for compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle conversion centres across Nigeria.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Youth Initiatives, Monitoring and Delivery, Dr Titilope Gbadamosi, disclosed this during the launch of the CNG Retrofitting Training Programme for corps members at the NYSC FCT Orientation Camp in Kubwa, Abuja.
According to Gbadamosi, the training will be conducted across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones as part of efforts to equip young Nigerians with practical skills and involve them in the country’s transition to CNG.
She explained that the programme is designed to support the government’s target of converting 100,000 vehicles to CNG annually.
Gbadamosi said the National Automotive Design and Development Council would provide the technical standards, certification and funding required for the programme.
She added that the 300 corps members who successfully complete the training and obtain certification would be posted to different CNG conversion centres to work as technicians.
The Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, said the initiative would create employment opportunities for corps members while also giving them skills they could use to establish businesses after completing their service year.
He encouraged the participants to take full advantage of the training and use their new skills alongside their academic qualifications to build sustainable careers.
The NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, described the programme as an example of effective collaboration between government agencies.
Nafiu said the NYSC was committed to supporting Nigeria’s energy transition and noted that the scheme had trained more than three million corps members in different skills since 2012.
He added that the CNG training would help bridge the gap between classroom education and practical workplace experience while contributing to the development of a skilled and innovative workforce.
