NYSC trust fund will lift 100m Nigerians out of poverty – CSO

A civil society organisation, The Abuja Grassroots Advocacy Project, has drummed support for the establishment of a Trust Fund for the NYSC.

According to the group, the establishment of the Fund will effectively complement the Federal Government’s efforts in moving 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.

The chief advocate of the CSO, Comrade Yunusa Ahmadu Yusuf, disclosed this on Wednesday while speaking at a symposium organised by NYSC on the imperative of establishing a Trust Fund for the scheme in Abuja.

Yusuf commended the NYSC management for the idea of the Trust Fund while also calling on all and sundry to support its establishment as it will empower the scheme to effectively confront the emerging economic challenges of the 21st century.

He also commended the scheme for providing a platform that would engender greater appreciation of the imperative for the NYSC Trust Fund and generate ideas that would facilitate its actualisation.

According to him, resolutions reached at the symposium have the capacity to change the narratives of not only the NYSC scheme, but the teeming Nigerian youths.

He called on the NYSC management to sustain and expand the scope of advocacy for the establishment of the fund.

It was also agreed that to achieve the desired objectives for the establishment of the Trust Fund, it must have clear objectives to promote transparency and beneficiaries must be identified based on gender, geopolitical representation and other relevant demographies.

“The NYSC Trust Fund the realisation of the NYSC Trust Fund will effectively complement the Federal Government’s efforts in moving 100 million Nigerians out of poverty as those expected to benefit from the fund would be Corps members who have been trainedthrough the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Programme are expected to train and empower no fewer than five persons from their host Community,” he added.

He said that the recommendation adopted during the NYSC symposium was laudable and should be supported by members of the National Assembly when the Bill for the establishment of the Fund would be presented to them for approval.

“We also want to appeal to President Muhammad to make the bill an Executive Bill when presented to the National Assembly. Because if passed into law, many Nigerians will benefit from it greatly,” he stated.