The Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) in partnership with the Lagos Business School (LBS) recently hosted members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in its 2020 Venture in Management Programme (ViMP). The initiative was part of measures to prepare the NYSC members for the world of work. Speaking at the event, the Executive Director, Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN), Mrs. Simi Nwogugu, said the programme was designed for outstanding NYSC members, who had gone through extensive application process. She also noted that after the screening processes, 50 members were selected to undergo a mini-MBA programme at the LBS
“The venture in management programme is a programme for outstanding youth corpers. These youth corpers have gone through extensive application process. We have selected the 50 top youth corpers that apply to the programme and we take them to Lagos Business School and we do like a full week of courses. It is a mini-MBA programme. Today is opportunity for them to wine and dine, with alumni of the programme.”
She further stated that JAN has been running the programme in the past 20 years, adding that some of the alumni are now leaders in business.
She added that in selecting the top 50, JAN examined leadership, experience and ability to solve problems, academic excellence (either they have scored a 1st class or 2.1).
According to her, “We are not the ones who rank them, but the board members, (formerly Accenture, now they are Verrati). They have been conducting the ranking exercise with us for 20 years now. So they receive the applications and screen, then pick the qualified candidates. What we have noticed is that there is a strong social responsibility component of the programme. There is that desire by many to give back even when they go into business. These participants of the programme have gone to teach in different public schools.”
