From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Director General of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), YD Ahmed, has revealed that no fewer than 565,489 corps members have benefitted from its Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme after receiving various levels of training.
Ahmed also revealed that over 11,881 have been financially empowered by the collaborating partners for the construction and handover of well-equipped skill acquisition centres for the North East zone in Gombe; North Central in Keffi; and North West in Kazaure.
He said apart from sensitising 3.306 million corps members, partnership with a certain foundation on financial literacy and empowerment, 32,402 corps members have been trained on eight modules on ‘kick-starting my business fundamentals’.
According to the director general; “sensitisation of 3,306,646 corps members on entrepreneurship development with over 565,489 receiving various levels of training. I am most pleased to report that 38,433 of them have established their own businesses and are doing well as employers of labour, while 11,881 were financially empowered by our collaborating partners.
“Construction and handover of well-equipped skill acquisition centres for the North East Zone in Gombe; North Central in Keffi; and North West in Kazaure by Access Bank Plc. Construction of that of the South West is at completion stage in Ekiti State while over 40 hectares of land has been acquired in Umuawulu, Anambra State, for the construction of the one for the South East.
“Ongoing collaboration with Access Bank, Unity Bank and Wema Bank on funding of businesses of corps members through competitive business plan development programmes. The winners are given grants, and the scheme undertakes quarterly monitoring to ensure they are used for the intended purposes.
“Activate Success International Foundation has empowered 69 corps entrepreneurs with grants for business start-up through the Youth Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Programme (YEEP). Partnership with Kudimata and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Foundation on Financial Literacy and Empowerment: So far, 32,402 corps members have been trained on eight modules on ‘kick-starting my business fundamentals.
“The training will give 1,100 corps members across Nigeria access to grants powered by NNPC Foundation to kick-start their businesses. Another gain of our collaboration with Kudimata is the acceptance by the Corporate Affairs Commission to register over 30,000 businesses of corps members at 50 per cent discount,” he said.
Commending the partners, the director general said: “They are also empowered with cash prizes, land, agricultural inputs, and services to the tune of N5,000,000, N3,000,000 and N1,500,000 for first, second and third position winners respectively. So far, the programme has empowered 16 corps members.
“We are all aware of the ongoing efforts by the Federal Government and other stakeholders to address the challenge of unemployment among our youths. In this regard, we are determined, more than ever before, to make the SAED more functional and elevate its status as a veritable model for youth empowerment in Nigeria,” he said.