From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The federal government has promised to empower no fewer than 50,000 entrepreneurs, 500,000 and two million young Nigerians through direct and indirect jobs with the N110 million youth investment fund.
Minister of Youths, Jamila Bio Ibrahim, made the disclosure at the ongoing Ministerial Sectoral Briefings in Abuja on Thursday to mark the first anniversary of President Bola Tinubu administration.
She announced that the second deliverables of her ministry is the N5 billion youth development funds from Bank of Industry and other banks to strengthen the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to empower young people in agriculture and vocational skills, technology and social inclusion.
The Minister who could not roll out any tangible achievement recorded by her ministry, she said: “In March this year, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the restructuring of the Youths Investment Fund with N110 million as a start up.
“It was an initiative of former president Muhammadu Buhari but government is a continuum. We had to institutionalise it through the Act of Parliament. FEC has approved to present the National Youth Fund to the National Assembly through an executive bill.
“In the coming weeks, the disbursement of the N110 million will soon be released. The council has also approved the presidential initiative for the youth enterprise programme. The N110 million has been activated for immediate release in the coming weeks and 50,000 entrepreneurs will be empowered, while 500,000 direct jobs and two million indirect engagement of young Nigerians.
“The second deliverables is the N5 billion youth development funds in partnership with Bank of Industry and other banks to strengthen NYSC to empower young people in agriculture and vocational skills, technology and social inclusion.
“Already, a committee has been established to drive the comprehensive reforms within the NYSC with the aim of transforming the scheme into a more impactful and economically beneficial programmes for our young graduates. The National Youths programme is initiated to train 300,000 corps members and 700,000 people outside NYSC scheme, especially the people in the informal sector,” he said.