NADDC targets 100,000 CNG conversions yearly as 300 corps members train
The Federal Government is targeting the conversion of 100,000 vehicles to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) annually, creating new employment and business opportunities for young Nigerians as the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) begins technical training for 300 National Youth Service Corps members in Lagos.
The Lagos programme, which commenced at the NYSC Orientation Camp on Monday, forms part of a pilot initiative covering corps members in six locations: Abuja, Kano, Adamawa, Lagos, Edo and Enugu.
The nationwide programme was formally launched in Abuja on August 11, 2026, by NADDC and NYSC under the NYSC Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme, with support from the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, the Presidential Initiative on CNG and Electric Vehicles and the Special Assistant to the President on Youth Initiatives (Monitoring and Delivery), Dr Titilope Gbadamosi.
Gbadamosi said the government’s target of converting 100,000 vehicles annually would generate sustained demand for trained CNG conversion engineers and technicians.
“This is a big number — 100,000 vehicles to be annually repurposed, converted to CNG,” she said.
She said the initiative was designed to connect young Nigerians to employment and entrepreneurship opportunities created by the government’s CNG policy following the removal of fuel subsidy.
The training is targeted at corps members with backgrounds in mechatronics, automotive engineering, electrical engineering and related disciplines.
Rather than limiting participants to the initial training period, Gbadamosi said beneficiaries would be attached to CNG conversion centres after the mandatory three-week NYSC orientation programme for practical experience throughout their service year.
“This then gives us a full-year learning experience. It’s not a week, but one year,” she said.
She added that NADDC would support qualified participants seeking to establish their own workshops, including free certification under the programme.
Representingthe NADDC Director-General, Otunba Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin, Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations, Ikechukwu Okoha, said the technical phase marked a transition from classroom learning to supervised practical conversion work.
Participants will receive training in identifying and installing CNG components, fuel-system integration, electrical and electronic connections, leak detection, testing, calibration, diagnostics and maintenance.
Okoha stressed that safety would remain central to the programme, warning that poor installation, improper connections and inadequate testing could have serious consequences.
He said NADDC was seeking to produce competent technicians and entrepreneurs rather than certificate holders, given the expected expansion of Nigeria’s CNG ecosystem.
The programme could create opportunities beyond vehicle conversion, including for maintenance specialists, diagnostic technicians, installers, trainers and other service providers required to support the emerging alternative-fuel market.
NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu, had described the initiative as an important extension of the Corps’ youth empowerment programme, with specialised CNG skills potentially improving participants’ prospects for employment and self-employment after national service.
The programme also reflects the government’s attempt to link energy transition policy with youth employment and technical skills development.
For the automotive sector, the success of the government’s 100,000-vehicle annual conversion target will depend not only on vehicle owners’ willingness to switch to CNG but also on the availability of adequately trained technicians, conversion centres, safety standards and supporting infrastructure.
The Lagos training therefore represents an early investment in the workforce needed to build and safely sustain Nigeria’s expanding CNG and clean-mobility industry.
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