NYSC partners ILO on entrepreneurship

The Management of the National Youth Service Corps and that of International Labour Organization have reached an agreement to form a synergy in the area of entrepreneurship to empower Corps members.

During a meeting in Abuja on Thursday, 25th of July, the Director-General NYSC, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim and ILO Country Director for Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Liberia and Sierra-Leon, Mr. Dennis Zulu were unanimous that skills and ideas in entrepreneurship, as well as start-up funding, are the catalysts that can easily propel the youths into becoming great business tycoons the nation can depend on to create jobs and also boost the economy.

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Brig General Ibrahim while briefing his ILO counterpart said that, in 2012 NYSC came up with Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Department, which is saddled with the sole responsibility of ensuring that Corps members are adequately equipped with sundry skills that will make them self-reliant at the end of their service year.

To this end, he said experts are hired, who train Corps members in orientation camps across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

He further said that the SAED training which comprises in-camp and post-camp segments covers skill sets such as agro-allied ventures, fashion designing, cosmetology, automobile, ICT, film making and photography, culture and tourism, food processing and preservation, and environmental beautification among others.

He equally stated that NYSC is into partnership with some financial institutions notably the Central Bank of Nigeria, Bank of Industry, and Heritage Bank in providing soft and/or interest-free loans to Corps members who present bankable business plans.

The NYSC boss thanked ILO for accepting to support his plan to expand SAED to make it more robust, by establishing skill centres in all parts of the country.

“Sir, as we speak, NYSC has two skill centres in Ekiti and Gombe states. Access bank has offered to build and equip three more centres in no distant time, and some States have also agreed to provide Corps members training centres in their domains” he stressed.

On his part, Mr Dennis assured Brig-Gen Ibrahim of the success of the partnership, promising to make contributions in every area of need, within available resources.