The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Major General Shuaibu Ibrahim has called on the federal government to approve NYSC Trust Fund for the benefit of corps members.
ASHENEWS reports that the bill on the proposed NYSC Trust Fund has passed the second reading at Nigeria’s House of Representatives.
The DG made the appeal on Sunday when he appeared on TVC live programme, “Journalists’ Hangout”.
According to him, if the fund is actualized, it would help to reinvigorate the NYSC skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme by empowering more corps members with start-up capitals for their business initiatives at the end of their service year.
This, he said, would lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty, “given the fact that the businesses to be established will employ millions of Nigerians, thereby taking them off the labour market.”
General lbrahim said the Fund would address the infrastructural deficit in the Scheme, such as the upgrade of facilities at the NYSC Orientation Camps; training and retraining of personnel, among others.
He also appealed to the federal government to modify school curriculum and introduce entrepreneurship training where students would be exposed to vocational studies before their deployment for national service.
The Director-General assured that the scheme would continue to utilise the potentials of corps members for national development through its ventures like; the NYSC Bakery, NYSC Water Factory, NYSC Farms, NYSC Film, NYSC Radio, among others.
He commended members of the House of Representatives for allowing the bill to pass the second reading, adding that corps members were involved in several national assignments with commendation from members of the public.
