WhatNext Africa, in partnership with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), has conducted a nationwide sensitisation lecture for 2025 Batch B Stream I corps members across NYSC orientation camps. Held on Wednesday, 6 August 2025, the session, themed “What Next After Secondary School,” marks a key activation point under the NYSC WhatNext Collaboration.
The initiative introduced corps members to their role as NYSC WhatNext Facilitators in the What Next After Secondary School Programme. The intervention aims to guide school leavers through their transition to tertiary education, employment, or entrepreneurship.
Representatives of WhatNext Africa, speaking at various camps, highlighted the need for structured support for the over 1.8 million students who graduate from secondary school in Nigeria each year. Many of them leave without access to relevant guidance.
“This programme is not just about information,” said Mr Temitope S. Ogunnusi, Programme Director of WhatNext Africa. “It is about transformation. Every corps member who steps into a classroom or mentors one young person is rewriting the future of Nigeria.”
Corps members were introduced to six key components of the programme, including WhatNext Conversations, which are weekly sessions on career and life planning for JSS3 to SS3 students; WhatNext Mentoring, a structured seven-year mentorship journey; and WhatNext Transition Blueprints, which are practical guides for life after school to be distributed by corps members.
Other components are the WhatNext Summit & Essay Competition, which provides annual opportunities for reflection and recognition; the WhatNext Radio Show, a 40-day national broadcast starting in August 2025; and School Facilitation, where corps members are expected to deliver sessions at their place of primary assignment or volunteer in nearby schools.
Each participating corps member will receive a facilitation guide, mentorship support, data allowance, and a certificate of recognition at the end of their service year.
The programme encourages wider involvement from all sectors. “We need an all-hands-on-deck approach – parents, schools, ministries, employers – everyone has a role to play,” said Ogunnusi. “No single stakeholder can shape a generation in isolation.”WhatNext Africa has trained thousands of facilitators and engaged tens of thousands of students in the past two years.
The organisation calls on parents, schools, alumni associations, education ministries, and businesses to take active roles in mentoring and supporting students across Nigeria.
“Together, let’s raise a worthy successor generation,” Ogunnusi added.
