File copy: Some NYSC members

The Bank of Industry (BoI) says it has commenced a nationwide training of 3,000 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in its N2 billion Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund (GEF) programme.

Mr Kayode Pitan, the Managing Director of BoI, made the disclosure on Monday at the opening ceremony of the 3rd edition of the GEF training in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the GEF programme targeted at the serving corps members was launched in October, 2015.

The GEF programme implemented in partnership with NYSC is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship skills among youths toward reducing the nation’s high unemployment rate.

Pitan, represented by Dr Waheed Olagunju, the Executive Director of SME in BoI, said that the programme would hold simultaneously at the NYSC centres situated at Abia, Delta, Osun, Lagos, FCT, Abuja, Plateau and Katsina.

The BoI managing director said that the GEF programme has a large picture in mind with a long term perspective of solving the critical problem of unemployment besieging the country.

“Nigeria has an unemployment rate of about 25 per cent, and youths unemployment constitutes about 60 per cent.

“Nigeria’s population is projected to hit 450 million people in 30 years time; a huge population can be either an asset or liability depending on if it is properly harnessed,” Pitan said.

According to him, 11, 687 applications were received out of which 3,000 were shortlisted to benefit from the training to be conducted by various Enterprise Development Centres across the country.

Pitan said that the GEF programme was designed at a zero per cent interest rate policy to enhance enterprise development, growth and sustainability.

He said that the beneficiaries of the first two editions of GEF programme were already creating impact in the agriculture, garment and leather industry while it also created over 2,700 additional jobs.

The NYSC Director-General, Brig.-Gen. Sule Zakari Kazaure, said that 3,000 corps members had been trained under the GEF programme since its inception in 2015.

“This number though, encouraging is like a tip of the iceberg in the ocean of unemployment.

“While we are aware of the economic challenges currently plaguing the country, I want to use this medium to appeal to BoI to scale up the number of would-be beneficiaries.

“This would no doubt give our youths the opportunity to start their own business, thereby reducing the national unemployment index,” he said.

Kazaure urged the bank to expedite action in processing the loan requests after training.

He said that experience from the last edition showed that many applicants withdrew and lost interest in the programme because of the delay in responding to applications.

In her remarks, Mrs Nike Adeyemi, the Executive Director, Fate Foundation, an enterprise development centre, said that the programme would address issues of business idea, knowledge gathering and sharing and access to finance.

Adeyemi urged the corps members to leverage on the programme toward acquiring requisite skills and resources required for entrepreneurship to enhance their self-reliance and contribute to the national development