Taking heed of the age-long anthem of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), “Youths obey the clarion call; let’s us lift our nation high; with dedication and selflessness..Nigeria we serve”, Joseph Oderinu, currently a 2014 Batch C corps member serving in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, picked up the gauntlet and decided to do the unusual in his quest to give succour to the unemployed in the society.



It is a usual thing for youth corps members to embark upon various forms of projects for their Community Development Service (CDS) while serving in their areas of primary assignment. Some of these projects included building of toilets facilities in schools and public places, libraries, ICT centres and billboards, among others.



However, Oderinu, who hails from Osun State and a graduate of Accounting from the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, chose a different path as he embraced a training programme for graduates in the local government area where he is currently serving. His targeted beneficiaries were about 1,000 graduates, from all disciplines, he told Nigerian Tribune during the graduate training programme, held recently in Port Harcourt.



When asked what informed his departure from the norm, Oderinu, the third child out of six children born to Pastor and Mrs Femi Oderinu of the Gospel Faith Mission International, said he was passionate about seeing people, especially youths, making improvement in acquiring skills and having financial freedom. This according to him, has made him to embark on training of about 1,000 fresh graduates in a series of workshops and to also seek to provide jobs for about 100 participants as part of his CDS, instead of embarking on the usual project of painting and building of classrooms as a CDS project during the service year.



Speaking further, the youth corps member said he had collaborated with some telecommunication companies and ITC firms to make the project a reality adding that: “When I came to Rivers State, I discovered that the government gives amnesty to young people and when this is done, they (the youths) still remain the same. So I thought it wise to organise a training programme for fresh graduates to improve themselves.



“If 1,000 people are enlightened and trained and 100 get the jobs in this project, it will go a long way in making our society a better place. The other 900 graduates who could not get the job would be trained on how to create jobs for themselves.”



The young man also described the project as humanitarian, disclosing that, while he personally approached some of the companies for assistance, he also prevailed on some of his well-established uncles in Lagos who have links to help him in actualising the project.



He said one of the current challenges facing Nigeria was unemployment, adding that he had however seized the opportunity to link up with these firms, knowing that corps members could walk into any organisation in their uniforms.



“I wore my NYSC Khaki to some companies and there they also directed me to some other firms who needed staff. I went through the Human Resources Departments of companies; I called some of their offices in Lagos to link us up with their offices here in Port Harcourt and I made calls to some of my big uncles who know some of these prominent recruiting companies and followed them up on my behalf. Now, we have about 15 companies that have given us their word,” he said.



Oderinu mentioned some of the companies which had assisted him include Quantum Project, Linksnet Institute, Ben and Christy Consulting, Dietams International School and Cooperative arm of Total Nigeria. He added: “For the recruitments, some companies have already started interviewing some persons who made it through the first stage. They will be in three batches; the second and the third batches will be contacted by the companies very soon. We are having this set of people today because their course of study tallies with what the companies want. It is not that they are too fortunate but the ICT firms, communication firms and logistics firms need these set of people.



The corps member disclosed that it took him about six months to bring the project together, adding that getting across to the companies was very challenging because some of the companies had to change the time and pattern of recruitment. He, however, stressed that the project was not his first CDS.



“ I did a project for my CDS by getting 30minutes free air time on a private radio station. When I came to Rivers State, I discovered that the NYSC in the state was using the government station. So I decided to contact other private stations in the state and they gave us the time and we ran a programme tagged ‘AJUWAYA’. The programme is supposed to continue running even after I might have finished my service year,” he said.



Oderinu also disclosed that he embarked upon a sensitisation programme during the last general election, adding: “During the elections, we worked with an NGO in Port Harcourt. We went round about eight local government areas and we sensitised people on election violence; we tagged it ‘Election no be war.’ We acted drama on the street for people to see and we shared fliers and posters.”



He added that he was spurred into action because he, as a young child, was not expected to have any appreciable chance to survive. According to him, he had some health challenges when he growing up and the medical doctors had said that he was not going to pull through but God had seen him through all.



Speaking with Nigerian Tribune at the graduate training programme, a young graduate who was among the 100 persons invited for job interview, Akinrinbola Oluwatosin Samuel, said that he was a serving corps member in Ahoada East Local Government Area of the state and that he would be rounding off his training later this month. He said he decided to be a part of the programme having come across the information through the internet. He said, on confirming the authenticity of the programme, he registered and took part in the training which had exposed him to many things he never knew before. Akinrinbola maintained that he was shortlisted for the interview and was assured that he would be called shortly.



Another beneficiary, Ayodele Oluwaseyi Damilola, said he was surprised that his fellow corps member was embarking on such a huge project by seeking jobs for fresh graduates. He said he confirmed the authenticity of the programme by checking if money would be extorted from him and the other participants. According to him, this had not been the case up to the point of the interview.
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