A call for the setup of a trust fund for start-up capital for corps members to advance their business ideas has been made.
Director-General National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig.-Gen. Shauibu Ibrahim called for the establishment of the trust fund on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, at the inauguration of a skill acquisition centre at the NYSC orientation camp in Ogun State.
The DG recalled that the scheme (NYSC) had introduced Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) for corps members in 2012, when it realized that white-collar jobs were no longer available in the country.
He stated that the scheme would continue to be responsible and responsive to the development of the corps members, adding that the role of entrepreneurship and skill acquisition could not be over-emphasized in the growth of the nation’s economy.
To this end, the NYSC Boss urged the federal government to set up an NYSC trust fund to provide start-up capital for corps members who might want to develop the entrepreneurial skills acquired during their service years.
He also called for the replication of the centre in other geo-political zones, as part of efforts to reduce the rate of unemployment in the country, promising that NYSC would run maintenance and keep the centres in good shape.
Also speaking at the event, the NYSC Coordinator in Ogun, Mrs. Belinda Faniyi, who listed the skills learned said that the centre would equip the corps members with the fundamental skills needed in the business world and make them wealth creators and self-reliant.
Some of the skills listed include: baking, fashion designing, cosmetology, food processing, and preservation.
Others, according to her, are farming (Agro-allied), make-up and head-ties as well as film and photography.
(NAN)
