The World Bank has commended Nigeria’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, calling it a potential “goldmine” for boosting the country’s industrialization efforts. The international financial institution urged the Federal Government to harness the scheme’s potential by equipping graduates with the right skills to drive economic growth.
Speaking during an interview with Arise TV on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings in Washington, D.C., the World Bank’s Country Director for Nigeria, Ndiame Diop, highlighted the importance of skill development for national progress. He emphasized the need for early investment in human capital and called for action to tackle Nigeria’s pressing educational and nutritional challenges.
Diop raised concerns about the large population of out-of-school children in Nigeria, which he estimated to be between 15 and 17 million. He noted that improving the education system must begin with ensuring these children attend school and are adequately prepared for learning.
“The rate of stunting in Nigeria is just too high,” Diop said, pointing out that over 11 million children under the age of five suffer from stunted growth. “Without proper nutrition, children are not equipped to learn, and this becomes a barrier to their development and future contribution to the workforce.”
He stressed that addressing these challenges requires enhancing the quality of basic education to better prepare young people for the labor market, thereby reducing the country’s youth unemployment rate.
In his remarks, Diop praised the NYSC scheme for its potential to supply industry-ready skills, noting that about 300,000 to 400,000 graduates participate in the program annually.
Read also: World bank to partner NYSC on job creation for corps members
“There’s one thing which I learned recently, which is a real goldmine for Nigeria—the NYSC,” Diop said. “If you leverage that institution to provide the right skills to these graduates, it will be super helpful. In fact, the World Bank is exploring how to support this initiative.”
Diop also discussed efforts to promote gender equality in education, pointing to a World Bank initiative focused on keeping girls in school and encouraging them to pursue careers in technology, engineering, and other STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields.
“The enrolment of girls in STEM fields remains low,” Diop said, citing statistics that show only 13% of women enroll in engineering programs and 20% in polytechnics. “We need to address stereotypes limiting young girls to arts and education fields. Getting more women into STEM will drive technological transformation in the future.”
While commending the government for implementing critical reforms, Diop acknowledged the high social costs Nigerians are facing due to inflation. He emphasized the need to channel savings from reforms into sectors like education, health, infrastructure, and social protection to ensure citizens benefit from policy changes.
“Nigeria has the scale and potential for economies of scale unique in Africa,” he noted. “With a vibrant private sector, good public policy, and a productive public-private alliance, Nigeria can achieve sustainable growth and job creation.”
However, Diop stressed the urgency of addressing key bottlenecks in power, trade, and security, which he described as critical to unlocking the country’s full economic potential.
“Reforms are hard work, and Nigeria must fix these sectors. But the payoff will be worth it, given the entrepreneurial spirit of Nigerians and the country’s potential for growth,” he concluded.
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