NYSC As A Platform for Opportunities And Self-empowerment

The service year is a period many yearn for. During the service year, corps members have the opportunity of developing attitudes of mind, acquired through shared experience and suitable training; to acquire the spirit of self-reliance by developing skills for self-employment (SAED) and contribute to the growth of national economy; mixing with people of other tribes, social and family backgrounds; to learn the culture of the indigenes of their host community, remove prejudice, eliminate ignorance and promote unity and integration. An opportunity many never get in their life time. 

It is important to note that, the period of service year isn’t really a break from the school stress, but a time to seat back and think of giving your dreams a wing, a time given to work and envision towards your goals. The reason why I am giving you these tips is for you as a serving or prospective corps member to take advantage of these opportunities.

Remember that it is only a pessimist that sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

So seat back while you read on and have them pictured in your mind.

 

1. The friendly and needy host community

Do you notice the smile on those children’s faces when they call you Kofa; the eagerness of that Malam to see you speak Hausa; the warm gesture of the Yoruba woman that calls you “Omo Ijoba” and your Igbo customer that always welcome you with “Copa, you don come”? They all want to relate with you, they respect and cherish you. One of the ideals of NYSC is for corps members to get acquainted with the culture and language of the host community. Show a feeling of respect, enthusiasm and interest for their culture and language; make friends and play with their children. In turn they will be the ones serving you.

Your host community has needs that needed to be met. Yes! It is obvious; that’s why you are posted to that community to help meet those needs. But apart from the primary assignment you are required to take—to help with their needs, there are some other needs which might not be readily available to them. You can make extra money meeting those needs—some without you spending a dime than a bit of your time and knowledge.

Some of the erroneous thoughts during the orientation camp are that, the rural areas lack some basic amenities and you would not be capable of surviving in that area. Some corps members goes to the extent of meeting their platoon masters or any official that could help in the posting. But I would tell you just as Bruce lee said ‘to hell with circumstances; I create opportunity’.

Perhaps many will notice that the populations of those posted to rural areas are far more than those posted to urban areas. That’s because it’s where the service of corps members are most needed. So create opportunity while you are there.

 

2. Easy Job Opportunity

The program has help create many entry-level jobs for many Nigerian youth. There have been cases of corps members being retained in their place of primary assignment, some given jobs or scholarships due to their achievements (personal CDS). But I must tell you they are just the very few lucky ones that have put so much effort.

Corps members posted to rural areas should consider themselves very lucky in that there are more wants in the rural areas than the urban because of little supply. As a young corps member, you can capitalize on this and make the supplies; making profits in the process and gaining recognition.

Let the fear of rampant unemployment drive you to a secured job.

 

3. Effectively utilizing your skills and satisfying your passion

Implement what you know, put it into practice and know that you aren’t the only with that passion of yours. So utilize your skills effectively and earn while you satisfy others passions in the process of satisfying yours.

Corps members in the orientation camp can make money snapping and printing digital passports and photographs. Many go to the camp with digital camera but not photograph printer. You can invest extra 20k to buy the printer and make money while in the camp and also during your passing out ceremony. If posted to a place close to the camp you can visit during camping of other batches.

An example of effectively satisfying your passion is starting a football viewing center. Let me give you an example of a friend who loves watching football. He is not the only one that loves watching football. He noticed there was a sizeable population of football lovers among the indigenes of the community we serve in and fellow corps members whom all have to travel to a nearby town to satisfy their passion—they spend N200 each to transport themselves to the village and pay extra N100 to the viewing center manager to have a ticket to view the match. So each person pays a whooping N300 just to watch a match.

4. Acquire skills and certificates

Maximize your time and add value to yourself by acquiring skills and certificates—be it professional (e.g. NIM) or educational (e.g. PGD), at low price and in short time frame.

The skill acquisition program should be taken seriously, because it is not your credentials that count but what can you offer. Those SAED guys are paid (given value) to train you to be self-employed, so take that value for yourself and get trained. Be wise!

Let me give you a personal experience on why you should acquire certificates. Just two days to entering the camp—the Monday of the week we are to enter camp, I attended an Access bank entry-level recruitment test. After haven passed the aptitude test, we were invited for an interview the second day—Tuesday. We were given a template to follow when writing our CV, which we were required to bring along to the interview. Checking through the template, I found out that I’m not qualified or may be at disadvantage. There’s a platform requiring a professional certificate which I had none. Did you think getting to camp and finding that some professional bodies are advertising a program that would earn me such certificate at a subsidized price, I would miss such opportunity? Answer that to yourself.

5. Starting a Business

The best time to start any business is when one is a corps member. The worst challenge of youth in the area of business is capital and now that you receive a monthly allowance of N33,000, as corps member you must use the money for tangible investments, because after your service year there may not be such opportunity of getting regular income. Thanks to the increased level of unemployment in the country.

As corps member you get more business patronage than an illiterate or a mere stranger doing business to survive. They feel more secured in doing business with you and trust your prowess as a graduate—a government property from a well-organized institution. So you see, you have an upper hand.

There are so many businesses you can venture into, to maximize your time and stipends during the service year and become financially independent while you seek for some other job opportunities after the service year.

Nigeria is a blessed country with a diverse resources—the northern, southern and western regions of the country each have some resources that are unique to the region (either lacking or in very quantity in other regions). So it is an opportunity you should take advantage of.

6. The Flexible Loan

As said earlier the NYSC boards are now focusing more on empowering youths. That is obvious in the numerous flexible loan opportunities with a digit interest rate that are to help corps members start up something lucrative. These include the BOI, CBN as well as getting loans from the national directorate of employment.

I have a friend who did take advantage of this opportunity. He wrote a compelling proposal that got him a loan of three million naira (N3,000,000.00), which he used to start up a poultry farm. The loan is very flexible and requires no collateral as the conventional loan. So stop complaining of capital, eschew your fear of loan and take advantage of this opportunity.

Great opportunities don’t come every day—recognize and seize them with every chance you get. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world aren’t the best coders, but instead, just really good at seizing great opportunities…and the realization of this is when you can truly help solve another’s problem.

 

 

EBORKA MARVELOUS

OS/21B/3785

BANKING AND FINANCE

DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY

DELTA STATE