The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a Community Development Service (CDS) group focused on investment education for corps members.
The campaign aims to raise awareness among young Nigerians about the dangers of fraudulent investment schemes while also promoting sound, ethical investment practices.
According to a statement released by the SEC on Sunday, the MoU was recently signed by the SEC’s Director-General, Dr. Emomotimi Agama, and the NYSC’s Director-General, Brig. Gen. Olakunle Nafiu.
It was also intended to promote financial knowledge and good investment practices among young Nigerians.
The collaboration aims to provide corps members with knowledge and skills to identify and avoid Ponzi schemes and illegal investment practices.
It will also improve public awareness campaigns against illegal financial schemes across all local government areas in the country.
The statement said, “Based on the scope of the collaboration, the SEC shall develop and provide relevant and up-to-date educational content, materials, and training modules on capital market operations, safe investment practices, and the identification and avoidance of Ponzi schemes.
“The SEC 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 respective communities.
“On its part, the NYSC shall facilitate the integration of anti-Ponzi scheme education into its Education and Enlightenment CDS program.
“This may involve dedicated sessions, workshops, or awareness campaigns during orientation camps and throughout the service year.
“The parties shall collaborate on joint awareness campaigns, utilizing various channels and platforms, including social media, traditional media, and community outreach, to disseminate information on safe investment and expose fraudulent schemes.
“They will also agree on mechanisms for sharing relevant data and reporting on the progress and impact of the collaborative initiatives.”
During the signing of the MoU, Agama emphasized the commission’s support for the NYSC scheme by giving possibilities for hundreds of corps members to serve.
This demonstrated management’s commitment to the scheme’s success.
Agama clarified, “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.
“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, and 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.
“For all of them, we consider them staff of the SEC and not just anybody.
“They are not just individuals; they are people we believe in, they are people we trust in, and we know that if we train and mold them well, they will be better ambassadors of the SEC in the outside world,” he said.
In his remarks, the NYSC Director-General praised the SEC CEO for making the MoU signing a reality, stating that the agreement reflects a key performance indicator for both organizations.
Nafiu also appreciated the commission’s leadership’s various actions aimed at increasing public trust in the capital markets.
He emphasized the importance of recruiting young corps members so that they do not fall victim to Ponzi scams.
He assured, “We believe it’s the beginning of great things to come.
“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.”
