The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) on Friday,
August 21, said it has secured over N200 million bank facility for
disbursement to corps members as loans to enable them start their
businesses.
Brig.-Gen. Johnson Olawumi, the Director-General of the corps, said this when the Commander, Guards Brigade, Nigerian Army, Brig.-Gen. Musa Yusuf, paid a familiarisation visit to the NYSC Headquarters in Abuja.
"That
has been a challenge; we train these corps members in the camp after
the camp we have partners all over the country where corps members also
receive training throughout the service year.
"Now, the issue is that when they get this
training they don’t have start-up capital but we have been doing a lot
to see there is opportunity for them to get startup capital. We have the
NYSC foundation as we speak, the NYSC foundation has just approved loan
worth N10 million for corps members.
"Corps
members based on the business plan they submit could get as much as
N250, 000 and N400, 000. We have also signed an MoU with Bank of
Industry though it is yet to take off but we are working on it.
"A
couple of months ago, I also approached Heritage Bank and Heritage Bank
is setting aside the sum of N200 million under a package where corps
members will get a soft loan and the only collateral they will have to
drop will be their discharge certificate.
"We
are also talking with Central Bank Governor to see that a micro credit
loan could be arranged specially to address corps members in this
category.''
He debunked allegations that the
corps is yet to provide skill acquisition and entrepreneurship
development to corps members, adding that the exercise has been ongoing
since 2012.
According to Olawumi, the NYSC has so
far trained over 400,000 corps members since the commencement of its
skills acquisition programme in over 12 different skills.
He
said that the NYSC, under the sponsorship of the World Bank, was
currently partnering with an international organisation to train corps
members interested in going into the building and property development
sector.
Olawumi also called on the Guards Brigade
to continue to assist the NYSC in ensuring the safety of corps members
serving in the Federal Capital Territory as well as those serving in
other states.
The director-general also directed the Director, Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) of the corps, Mrs Mary Dan-Abia, to commence partnership with the brigade’s skills acquisition centre in Keffi, Nassarawa State.
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