This motivating piece was culled from Guardian newspaper link www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/07/from-corpers-to-employers-trainers-the-jigawa-story/

THE Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship
Development (SAED) programme, introduced in the
National Youths Service Corps (NYSC), to giving
practical training to corps members, arming them
with at least one skill with which to earn a living or
serve as a buffer for additional income after passing out, is yielding results.
Fronting packages that absorb outstanding corps
members after their service year, government has
created an environment for entrepreneurship to
thrive.
But the question of the impact of such an initiative
persists. In particular, some wonder why the need
to train graduates on skills such as tailoring,
baking, shoemaking, cosmetology and paint
making, when most of them are primed for white-
collar jobs. The one-week duration of the training
also calls it’s effectiveness to question.
Tales of gloom about the scheme do not deter
Jigawa State, as a handful of ex-corps members
are practically rewriting the story of the state with
a magic stroke of entrepreneurship, skills training
and uncanny patriotism.
Baba Daniels is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of
Leadwill Paints and Painters, a company he set up
after his service year and which has kept him
glued to the state months after obtaining his
discharge letter. He is a Batch A, 2014 corps
member, but is now a resource person with the
NYSC in the state, after winning an award for
outstanding performance in his Place of Primary
Assignment (PPA) and representing the state at the
regional finals of the NYSC/CBN business plan
writing competition. He makes paints locally and
sells, and gets contracts for which he employs
people to execute.
He said, “I served in Jigawa State and, before then,
had no idea what the state looked like. I came for
the orientation course and I thank God for what I
have learnt so far.”
He said he now survives on skills acquired during
the orientation programme and has gone ahead to
train others. The scheme, he noted, has made him
self-reliant, adding that fending for himself after the
service year has been a great relief for himself and
his family back in Kaduna.
According to him, “I am presently a resource
person with the NYSC in Jigawa State. I learnt
some skills in camp and they are what I survive
on. I go about training other persons. I was
privileged in Jigawa State to represent the NYSC/
CBN venture in Katsina State in December 2014. I
learnt other skills and met other corps members in
other states.”
He attributed the lackluster attitude of Nigerians to
the scheme to lack of patriotism on the one hand,
and the spate of insecurity in some parts of
Northern Nigeria, insisting that the best a citizen
could do was to devote a part of his/her life to the
service of fatherland.
He noted that the erroneous notion that keep
Nigerians suspicious of themselves could only be
tackled by a scheme as rigorous as NYSC, calling
on Nigerians to be liberal with their views of the
scheme.
“I know of fellow ex-corpers, who served with me,
that have not gotten jobs. In fact, I can’t take a job
that would pay me N100, 000, when I can be a
CEO and make more and have time for myself. The
idea of entrepreneurship is a plus to the scheme to
assist corps members. After I left the scheme, I
have not applied anywhere for a job. Even if I am
to look for a job, the salary must be more than
what I earn as a CEO.

“Most corps members do not take the
entrepreneurship programme of the scheme
seriously. Some might regret. I know of corps
members who have not gotten jobs years after
service. But it is what has made me who I am
today. I can feed three more mouths, and to crown
it all, I am thinking of getting married next year.
“I am happy and fulfilled that people are learning
from me; it’s fun. And I am getting paid for it. I am
a contractor right now, because of what I learnt in
camp. If I leave this job, there is a high probability
that I would get another contract. I appeal to corps
members to learn a skill, at least. They should
build on the knowledge gained. The idea that arts
and crafts are for illiterates is wrong. The input of
graduates in these skill areas is worth millions in
value. That’s why they are needed more.”

Brb

GOOD FOR YOU! MAKE ME SELF GO LEARN ONE SKILL…. AM THINKING OF SNAKE BITE OR LEGOVER!

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