The Federal Government, through the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), says it will attach 300 corps members to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) centres nationwide after training them as technicians, as part of a broader push to build local technical manpower for Nigeria’s transition to cleaner energy.
The disclosure was made by NADDC Director-General, Joseph Osanipin, during the inauguration of the CNG Retrofitting Training Programme in Abuja, implemented in partnership with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) under its Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) initiative.
Osanipin said the programme is designed to develop the technical manpower needed to support Nigeria’s shift from Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) to CNG. “Because CNG is new, we have to train our youths to understand how CNG works, understand the dynamics, and then be able to convert vehicles. And not only that, to understand every other thing, the value chain within that ecosystem,” he said.
According to Osanipin, the first phase of the initiative will train 300 corps members across six locations including Abuja, Adamawa, Kano, Lagos, Edo and Enugu states with 50 participants selected from each centre for the pilot exercise. The Special Assistant to the President on Youth Initiatives, Dr Titilope Gbadamosi, said beneficiaries would undergo continuous practical training throughout their service year before being attached to CNG centres as certified technicians.
Beyond vehicle conversion, Osanipin noted that the CNG sector offers additional opportunities in technology and ICT-related services. “If you want to focus on the technological part of it, provide the platform, ICT, then it’s there for you. So whatever they want to do, we are there to support,” he said.
The initiative forms part of a broader, three-year drive by NADDC to train 1,000 corps members annually in CNG conversion and retrofitting.
NYSC Director-General, Brigadier-General Olakunle Nafiu, said the Scheme’s nationwide infrastructure made it well-positioned to support large-scale vocational training. He disclosed that the NYSC has facilitated in-camp SAED training for more than 300,000 corps members annually, with over 1.5 million corps members having participated in post-camp vocational training programmes since the SAED initiative was introduced in 2012.
Nafiu said the pilot phase would focus on graduates of mechanical, electrical and mechatronics engineering, alongside other interested corps members with relevant backgrounds. “As we progress, we will expand the net and absorb other interests. Our goal is to ensure our youths become gainfully employed,” he said.
The collaboration between NYSC and NADDC was formalised through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which also involved the Office of the Special Assistant to the President on Youth Initiatives, the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, and the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGi).
Minister of Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande, said the partnership between NYSC and NADDC had the potential to create about 5,000 jobs for Nigerian youths. He noted that the Federal Government had been promoting the CNG initiative for the past three years and stressed the importance of building local capacity. “The Nigerian youths must not be left behind. We must not bring people from other areas to come and fix our CNG or from different countries to come and earn our income and claim we have no job,” Olawande said.
Gbadamosi added that the programme was designed to build a pool of certified CNG technicians among corps members who would support the country’s growing adoption of alternative energy solutions, aligning with the Federal Government’s wider energy transition agenda while creating market-relevant vocational opportunities for young Nigerians.
The programme is part of a broader national effort to reduce dependence on petrol and diesel by expanding CNG adoption in the transport sector, following the removal of fuel subsidies in 2023 and the government’s subsequent push for cheaper, cleaner alternative fuels.
