The Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Youth Service Corps have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a Community Development Service group focused on investment education for corps members nationwide.
The initiative aims to sensitise young Nigerians to the risks of fraudulent investment schemes while promoting sound and legitimate investment practices, according to a statement issued by the SEC on Sunday.
The MoU was signed by SEC Director-General Dr Emomotimi Agama and NYSC Director-General Brig.-Gen. Olakunle Nafiu.
Under the agreement, SEC will develop and provide educational content, materials, and training modules on capital market operations, safe investment practices, and the identification and avoidance of Ponzi schemes.
The commission will also be responsible for the content, resources, and funding of training sessions for selected corps members and NYSC supervisors who will serve as trainers and facilitators in their communities.
The NYSC will integrate anti-Ponzi scheme education into its Education and Enlightenment CDS programme through dedicated sessions, workshops, or awareness campaigns during orientation camps and throughout the service year.
Both organisations will collaborate on joint awareness campaigns using social media, traditional media, and community outreach to disseminate information on safe investment and expose fraudulent schemes.
Speaking during the signing, Agama noted that the commission currently has between 160 and 180 corps members serving at SEC, describing it as a demonstration of management’s commitment to the scheme.
“We have NYSC members at the SEC in the range of 160-180 and there is no other institution in this country that can actually boast of that,” he said.
“It shows our commitment to the NYSC scheme. We believe that we can train them. We can train them for the market, we can train them for the nation, we can train them for themselves, and there is no corps member that has gone through the NYSC scheme at the SEC that has regretted it.”
Nafiu commended the SEC boss for making the signing a reality, describing the deal as a Key Performance Index for both organisations.
He noted that it is important to catch corps members young so they do not patronise Ponzi schemes.
“We believe it’s the beginning of great things to come,” he said. “After signing of the MoU, in the execution phase, we remain committed to every process to execute to the letter, the terms to the betterment of the larger Nigerian society.”
