764,677 corps members have completed entrepreneurship training, says NYSC DG – Punch Newspapers

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FILE: NYSC members
About 764,677 corps members have completed full skill and entrepreneurship training under the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development program of the National Youth Service Corps, its Director-General, Brig. General Shuaibu Ibrahim, has said.
According to him, 18,682 have set up businesses through self-help, bank loans and grants from donors after completing the SAED program.
Ibrahim said these on Friday during the closing ceremony of the 2021 NYSC SAED festival which was held in Abuja.
He said that 1,409,000 corps have been sensitised on the need for self-empowerment since the commencement of the SAED programme.

Ibrahim said the SAED programme was instituted in 2012 as a platform for the NYSC to contribute towards tackling the challenge of unemployment amongst the teeming graduate youths.
The NYSC DG said corps members, in successive batches, have shown more than a passing interest in the SAED programme which had helped many to establish and successfully nurture their own businesses.
He said, “Since the institutionalisation of the SAED programme, up to 1.409,000 corps members have been sensitised on the need for self-empowerment. Out of these, 764,677 have so far completed the full skill and entrepreneurship training while up to 18,682 have set up businesses through self-help, bank loans and grants from donors.

“Of course, there is no gainsaying the fact that the panacea against this challenge is to steer the mindset of our youths away from the mirage of white collar job to that of entrepreneurial engagement.
“As a scheme, we consider this as even more compelling in view of the fact that the period of national service is designed to serve as a buffer for youths as they transit from school life to the realities of mainstream society.
“Thus, we have continued in our strides for the success of the programme with the support of partners such as the Bank of Industry, Access Bank, Unity Bank, Leventis Foundation Nigeria, British-America Tobacco Foundation and others too numerous to mention. Parts of the gains of our collaborations are empowerment of corps members with financial grants and loans for the actualisation of their business plans as well as the establishment of zonal skills training centres across the country.”
Ibrahim said the festival was a celebration of the evolving success of the SAED programme.

The Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, Olukayode Pitan, said over 10,000 Nigerians have so far benefited from its programs targeted at growing small businesses.
He said the bank, with support from its partners, has been providing start-up loans to corps members.
Pitan said, “We have disbursed N5.3bn as start-up loans for about 1,000 participants. Over 10,000 Nigerians who were selected through the business idea competition have been trained in entrepreneurship and business management.

“In order to improve performance of business’s finance under this programme, several measures have been put in places such as the creation of market linkages, the establishment of a mentorship programme and an improved framework for effective monitoring of projects.
“Despite the obvious challenges in the business environment, BOI’s youths programmes have produced some highly successful entrepreneurs.
“The bank has, therefore, decided to further support these businesses to reach their full potential by providing financial and advisory services to scale-up their operations.
“To this end, successful businesses within the youth programs have identified with the objective of providing them business advisory services to scale-up their operations.”
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