The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has trained 1,391,119 graduates in vocational skills from 2019 to 2025 under its Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme. Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, NYSC Director General, revealed the figure while speaking to participants of the Senior Executive Course 48, 2026, Group 2. The SAED initiative aims to equip corps members with practical skills to promote self-employment and reduce job market pressure. Nafiu emphasized that the programme is fully integrated into the NYSC orientation phase and remains a key pillar of the agency's reform efforts. Training areas include fashion design, ICT, electrical installation, catering, and renewable energy, among others. According to Nafiu, over 60 percent of participants have applied their skills post-service.
Training nearly 1.4 million graduates in six years sounds impressive, but the real test is how many actually turn those skills into sustainable livelihoods. Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu's claim that over 60 percent are applying their training lacks independent verification. If SAED is truly making a dent, Nigerians should see more visible success stories beyond NYSC's annual briefings. For now, the programme remains more promise than proof.
