A pan Nigerian group, The Conscience Nigeria, has commended moves by the House of Representatives to ensure that National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) members got start-up capital while serving.
The Secretary-General of the group, Mr Bamidele Michael, made this known in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
He noted that the NYSC Fund Bill currently before the House of Representatives was a stitch in time in view of the level of youth unemployment in the country.
He said the bill, when passed into law, would go a long way in helping Nigerian youths to be self employed.
“The proposed NYSC Trust Fund is a game-changer.
“The provisions in the bill are well captured which indeed reflects the present realities in the country with regards to generation of jobs and attending to a critical component of the population of the country.
“The fact that the bill intends to provide startup capital for youths across the country while undergoing the mandatory service year and even after they leave service is laudable.
“This move will set the countrry on the path of sustainable growth and development,” he said.
Michael also commended the leadership of the NYSC for displaying great foresight in proposing to establish a Trust Fund that would address the myriads of challenges facing the youth, particularly in the area of unemployment.
He said, “the opportunities in the establishment of the Trust Fund are innumerable.
“This is brilliant and will serve as a medium for entrepreneurship amongst the teeming youth.
“It is a golden opportunity that the country must harness towards socio-economic development.”
Michael called on well-meaning Nigerians and organisations to support the establishment of the Fund in the interest of growth and development.
He stressed that the implication of having an active youthful population that is availed of funds for actualisation of their potentials was a right step.
He further noted that with the development, the burden placed on the shoulders of parents would be lifted, saying youths would be actively engaged in economic ventures that would be beneficial to them and society at large.
He called for speedy passage of the Bill.
The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that the NYSC Trust Fund Bill has scaled second reading in the House of Representatives.
The Bill, which was sponsored by Rep.Mayowa Akinfolarin, representing Ileoluji Okeigbo/Odigbo constituency of Ondo State, seeks to ensure skills acquisition.
It also seeks to ensure provision of startup capital, training and retraining of NYSC personnel, develop camps among other things.
If passed into law, private organisations will contribute one per cent of their net profit to the fund, while 0.2 per cent of total revenue accruing to the federation account will be earmarked for the fund
