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RELEVANCE OF NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE CORPS SKILL ACQUISITION PROGRAMME AND UNEMPLOYMENT REDUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Over the years in Nigeria and other parts of the world, different programmes have been introduced to serve and tackle a particular situation. The programme could be to curb insecurity, enhance food production, reducing unemployment among others, Also, these programmes were targeted towards a particular set of people such as the adolescent, youths, adults, the elderly, educated, the non-educated and even the physically challenged people. One of such programmes that were introduced targeting the youths is the National Youth Service Corps. The Federal government of Nigeria introduced the National Youth Service Corps so as to include young countrymen in the nation's advancement and improvement. After the Nigerian civil war in January 1970, General Yakubu Gowon, the then President of Nigeria, propelled itspost-war 3Rs (Reconciliation, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction) plan. This plan brought forth the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) on May 22, 1973.

As indicated by the scheme, the thought behind the creation of the NYSC was to develop and support better association among youthful Nigerians with the end goal of guaranteeing national unity. Some portion of the objectives of the scheme incorporate instilling discipline in the Nigerian young people, giving them the chance to learn about higher ideals of national accomplishments, social and cultural improvement and building up the attitudes of mind gained through shared experience and suitable training which will make them progressively manageable to mobilization in the national intrigue. The NYSC scheme has throughout the years succeeded, in its own little way, in encouraging solidarity in the nation. Through the projects, a few inter-tribal marriages have been accomplished. Similarly, some of the corps members have remained back in their host communities (irrespective of tribal and ethnic differences) to earn a living through different genuine methods. Additionally, majority of the corps members have been exposed to different traditions and customs of various parts of the nation through the NYSC scheme.

Unquestionably, along these lines, the NYSC scheme has throughout the years been a uniting factor in the country. It is, in any case, satisfying to take note that the facilitators of the scheme are taking advantage of the platform to empower corps members for better economic chances, particularly after the completion of the scheme. This is a very savvy and inventive move by the leadership of the scheme, especially taking into account the astounding unemployment situation in the nation.

In March 2012, the NYSC administration introduced Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship

(SAED) Programs into the NYSC orientation course content. The objectives of the scheme incorporate sensitization and mobilization of young graduates for skill acquisition, facilitation of training and tutoring of young graduates in skill acquisition and enterprise development of self-reliance. The SAED scheme is an initiative headed to help Corp members in acquiring fundamental skills that will urge them thusly to seek after enterprise vocations so as to diminish their possible time spent in the labour market looking for paid employment. The SEAD Department is comprised of two divisions in particular: Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship and Empowerment. The introduction of SAED into the NYSC Scheme has helped lots of fresh graduates to be self-reliant, creating employment opportunities as opposed to looking for salaried occupations. The project is an across the country initiative, directed at young graduates who are mobilized and deployed for the NYSC scheme. It is intended to be actualized inside the structure of camping exercise (in-camp) and the service year of the corps members (postcamp). The in-camp period of the task center generally around creating the entrepreneurial and self-reliant spirit, helping corps members explore income generation opportunities available, with the end goal of recognizing the one that best suits their personality/conditions. The postcamp stage provides the platform for rigorous training of intrigued Corp members with a view to furnishing them with the essential technical/vocational skills as well as business competence expected to start up business.

The training center more around Poultry, Snailry, Animal Husbandry, Fish Farming, Plantain and Banana Sucker Plantation, Catering, Bead Making, Fashion Designing, Hair dressing and Make-up, Photography and Graphics Designing. Today, the SAED policy is one of the few in the nation that is truly helping in empowering and setting up the youths for beneficial commitment. From its beginning till date, no less than 971,272 corps members have benefitted from the skill acquisition program while more than 7000 have set up their favored businesses. Corps members who participate in the skill acquisition training, and who toward the finish of their service year, are desirous of starting up their businesses, are given interest free loans to begin such business. The primary necessity is to bring a guarantor and the only collateral required is the certificate of national service, which will be released to the corps member toward the end of repayment of the loan facility. Up until now, around 5, 000 to 8, 000 corps members have accessed the facility. The credit facility ranges from N150, 000 to N250, 000 per person for small scale enterprises. This, for sure, is a good way of banishing joblessness, youth restiveness and other negative youth related inclinations from our country (Omotosho 2017).

According to Onyishi (2011), the goal of the scheme includes to develop youths especially graduates with sound mind and result oriented that are driving towards the actualization of national cohesion and unity and to incorporate national coexistence. It is an exercise that developed the individual minds and makes them bring out their best for service for national development and nation building. According to Okafor and Ani (2014), the national assignment builds best characteristics in the young and giving the correct mentality and incentive for country fabricating that fills in as an impetus to national turn of events and a feeling of pride and satisfaction of taking part in graduate adolescents. However, due to the enormous challenges such as underemployment and unemployment confronting Nigeria, other responsibilities have been put on the scheme. Due to the problem of unemployment of graduates bedeviling the country, in 2012, the Federal Government of Nigeria introduce a training programme into the NYSC known as the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) project.

The aim of the programme was for acquisition of skills for graduate self-reliance. This was used to tackle the issue of unemployment and underemployment of graduates. The Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) project has its mandate of providing youth corps members open access to acquisition of vital and essential skills and resources necessary to be successful in entrepreneurship. The goals of the scheme include creating awareness of young graduates who are corps members for acquisition of basic skill training for entrepreneurship development and self-reliance.

According to Faloye and Olatunji (2018), the sole objective of SAED programmes is to encourage the Nigerians generally, and Nigeria youths particularly, to highly involve in entrepreneurial activities thereby creating jobs. Others include enhancement of partnership between the public and the private sector for the purpose of developing skill-based development for self-reliance among Nigerian youths and graduates. In order to reduce the rate of unemployment among Nigerian number of graduates roaming about on thestreet with certificate qualification without having a meaningful source of livelihood, the concept of entrepreneurial education (training) was introduce into tertiary education in Nigeria (Deebom & Baridoma, 2017).

The SAED program is aim at young people who are corps members undergoing the compulsory one-year of national service to the father land. The programme was structured mainly for corps members to participate only during their camping period and throughout their one-year service(post-camp). It is expected each and every corps member learn a skill that is industrially based which can position them to become job creators rather than job hunters and hence reduce the number of unemployed graduates in the country. The SAED programme that was introduced in 2012 started with 12 different categories of skills offered in this SAED program. These skills areas include Agro-allied, Automobile, Beautification, Construction, Cosmetology, Culture and Tourism, Education, Environment, Film and Photography, Food Processing/Preservation, Information Communication Technology and Power and Energy.

The SAED policy is one of the few in the country that is really helping in empowering and preparing the youths for productive engagements. According to Utomwen (2012), it was noted that at the end of the 2012 Batch “B” orientation course, 45,000 corps members had been trained in various skill areas.

Osinem (2008) described skill as a well-established habit of doing something expertly. However, in this context, skill could be described as the ability of Corps Members to be able to carry out a specialized area in entrepreneurial trade expertly for self-reliance. To this end, it will not have been overstatement today skill acquisition programme are made up of various kinds of skills to provide basic and special training/skills and capacity building/empowerment for the upliftment and well-being o fan individual or a people(Adofu,2013). When the youths acquire skills, it will lead to self-reliance and reduce the level of unemployment. For skill acquisition training programme to have an impact on the society, Deebom and Okwelle (2015) aver that skill acquisition should be tailored and directed towards the youths as they are seen as the frontline for development both rural and urban. This is not very surprising given the fact that they (youth) form a great portion of the entire population. Youths at times are referred to as young people. Youth is an age of adventure; it is a bridge between the adolescent and the adults or old age (Akande, 2011). The National Population Commission (cited in Odunwole, 2015) defines youth as people between the ages of 18-35 years. This definition is in tune with NYSC benchmark that the national service year is between the ages of 18 – 30. Based on this benchmark, it can be categorically stated that Corps Members are classified as youth and hence, they are set of population that suffers high rate of unemployment. Unemployment is a state of joblessness, being out of job or not being gainfully employed. The state of being employed or self-employed makes the youth economically viable. Therefore, youth empowerment according to Jimba(2006)are methods and modalities adopted with the aim of facilitating and to cause a positive change in their lifestyle.

It was further maintained that youth empowerment means away of building in to the youths the idea of transformation of Knowledge and skills into innovativeness and creativity. Youth empowerment can also be seen as a process of  developing exposing they youths through acquisition skills to make them productive and can contribute meaningfully to the society .It encompasses different ways youths can be exposed into different craft and Vocation that may help them to engage in sustainable paid and self- employment.

The concept, empowerment as defined by World Bank (2011), is the process of developing the individuals (youths) capacity and capability to be able make choices and to convert their decisions and thoughts into desired actions and outcomes. This definition view youths’ empowerment from the perspective of human capacity building which targets how to make an individual or youths to be selfemployed, self-independent or self-reliant. Also, Okwelle and Deebom (2017) stressed that empowerment could be seen as process of molding an individual (youths) with the required skill necessary for its economic, financial, social, moral and psychological existence and development to enhance self-reliance individually and the society at large. In this study, empowerment is defined as the process of training the youths (Corp Members) for them to acquire different skills that can make them to be self-employed and to employ others. Based on this definition, it implies that meaningful skill acquisition programmes like that of SAED should incorporate the youth for their empowerment. From the foregoing, the National Youth Service Corps Service Skill Acquisition Entrepreneurship Development programme will only be meaningful if it influences the youth in way of empowerment.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Savagery and youth restiveness are serious issues undermining lives, property and investment in Nigeria now. Young people appear to take more pleasure in hostage taking, violent demonstrations, and wanton pulverization of lives and property, making life insecure and awkward in the nation. Continuing clashes in various parts of Nigeria, characterized by interethnic conflicts, seizure, and vandalization of oil facilities as well as kidnap of oil employees and all types of wrongdoing, is mounting an overwhelming pressure on the country's oil output and its short term designs for the business, which is the bedrock of the country. The oil organizations are counting their misfortunes resulting from shut-downs, and the government in forgone revenue. Crime percentage and violence because of youth restiveness in Nigeria has demonstrated that Nigeria is paying the consequences for their disregard for qualitative and functional education. Year in year out graduates are been produced who have no market value and unemployable because of their insufficiency in the required skills. The implication is that young people who endeavoured to gain higher education are not much better than their counterparts who didn't as their educational exposure are insufficient to enable them secure steady employment. This issue has been found to constitute one of the significant reason for youth restiveness in Nigeria. Skills development in the youth, it is accepted, can give solution for this circumstance. With such skills young people can without much of a stretch gain employment or be self-employed, lessening the rate of poverty, idleness which regularly prompts anxiety and viciousness. The problem of this study accordingly is how youth restiveness and unemployment rate in Nigeria can be diminished through employable skills development.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to determine relevance of national youth service corps skill acquisition programme and unemployment reduction

Specifically the objectives are to:

1. Examine the level at which NYSC-SAED has contributed in reducing unemployment rate amongst young graduates

2. Determine the degree at which the NYSC-SAED program is effective more than the previous schemes introduced by the government

3. Examine the extent at which Corp members are willing to participate in NYSC-SAED training programme during and after the camp.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions guided the research work

1. At what level has NYSC-SAED contributed to reducing unemployment rate amongst young graduates?

2. At what degree has NYSC-SAED program more effective than other previous schemes introduced by the government?

3. To what extent are Corp members willing to participate in NYSC-SAED training programme during and after the camp?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

Hypotheses i

H0: There is no significant relationship between participation in the NYSC Skill Acquisition Programme and improved employability among Nigerian youth.

H1: Participation in the NYSC Skill Acquisition Programme is positively correlated with enhanced employability among Nigerian youth.

Hypotheses ii

H0: There is no significant association between the NYSC Skill Acquisition Programme and reduction in unemployment rates among Nigerian graduates.

H1: Participation in the NYSC Skill Acquisition Programme leads to a decrease in unemployment rates among Nigerian graduates.

Hypotheses iii

H0: The challenges faced by NYSC participants in utilizing acquired skills do not significantly hinder the effectiveness of the programme in addressing youth unemployment.

H1: The challenges faced by NYSC participants in utilizing acquired skills significantly impede the effectiveness of the programme in addressing youth unemployment.

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance of studying the relevance of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Skill Acquisition Programme in reducing unemployment lies in its potential to address the pressing issue of youth unemployment in Nigeria. By examining the effectiveness of the program in equipping graduates with practical skills and enhancing their employability, the study can provide insights into the impact of government initiatives on tackling unemployment. Understanding the effectiveness of the NYSC Skill Acquisition Programme can inform policymakers and stakeholders on ways to improve and optimize such programs to better address unemployment challenges, ultimately contributing to socioeconomic development and youth empowerment.

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