By: Goodluck E.Adubazi, Abuja.

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening its partnership with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to boost youth empowerment and entrepreneurship nationwide.

The Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, made this known when the Director-General of SMEDAN, Dr. Charles Odii, paid him a courtesy visit at the NYSC headquarters in Abuja.
Brigadier General Nafiu described SMEDAN as a critical stakeholder in the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme, noting that the collaboration has trained and empowered thousands of Corps Members to establish successful businesses across the country.
According to him, the NYSC remains committed to policies and programmes that promote national unity, integration and socio-economic development, stressing that SMEDAN’s contributions have been instrumental in nurturing Corps-owned enterprises that contribute significantly to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“SMEDAN is a key partner of the NYSC because it has helped in birthing Corps businesses that are contributing to the national economy,” Nafiu said.

He commended SMEDAN for its impact across multiple value chains, particularly in entrepreneurship advocacy, financial literacy, skills acquisition and facilitation of access to funding. The NYSC boss further assured that the Scheme would continue to prioritize the SAED programme and strengthen collaboration with funding institutions to improve Corps Members’ access to loans and grants.

Earlier in his remarks, the Director-General of SMEDAN, Dr. Charles Odii, called for a review of the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two agencies to further enhance the empowerment of Corps Members with practical business skills and tools.

Dr. Odii disclosed that SMEDAN currently supports over 39 million small businesses across Nigeria and proposed the creation of a dedicated NYSC Community Development Service (CDS) group to increase public awareness of the agency’s programmes.

He described SMEDAN as the Federal Government’s apex institution for small business development, with mandates covering job creation, poverty reduction and industrial growth, adding that NYSC remains a strategic partner in achieving these goals.
“From the orientation camp, we want Corps Members to begin to see themselves as business development service providers,” he said, adding that SMEDAN is also prepared to train NYSC officials with skills that would enable them to become business owners after retirement.

The development was contained in a statement issued by Caroline Embu, Director of Information and Public Relations, NYSC.