Mr. Sunday Dare addressing a gathering of youths. Photo credit: empowermentopportunities.com

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare has commended members of the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) Focal Group for the dedication they have shown in carrying out their unpaid volunteer work for the Fund.

The Minister, who made the commendation when the NYIF Focal Group presented its preliminary report to him in Abuja on Thursday, noted that the members were selected based on their skills, competence and areas of expertise.

He explained that “We will take time to study this interim that has been submitted by the NYIF Focal Group will be harmonized with the interim report that the Technical Committee has submitted and the outcome of that will be presented to the Steering Committee.

“It is important for me to state that I am impressed, and I commend the quality of work you have put in because this assignment, membership of the Focal Group is not a paid assignment, it is volunteer work. This is rendering service to the country and to the youth,” he stressed.

The Focal Group’s team lead, Oladipupo Adebiyi, while presenting the report during a virtual event, said “The NYIF initiative enjoys public support especially from young Nigerians. Nigerians believe the fund will address unemployment and reduce poverty amongst young Nigerians.

“The fund will not only cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economic condition of young people, it will also foster the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.  Most young Nigerians strongly posit that the success of the fund will be contingent on its inclusiveness, monitoring and evaluation mechanism and sustainability framework.”

The group’s terms of reference required that it Provide advisory, insights and suggestions on the successful implementation of the NYIF emanating from both the group and the youth population; Propose ideas and initiatives that promote the NYIF and supports its impact on youth entrepreneurship across the country; Provide feedback on the expectations of the youth with regard to the implementation of NYIF across the youth demography in the country; Serve as ambassadors of the NYIF in their various communities and spheres of influence; Coordinate the engagement of the NYIF with youth groups and other stakeholders across the country for a proper feedback process to strengthen the Fund; and Advise on other related issue(s) as may be requested by the Inter-ministerial Steering Committee.

Facts about Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF)

The Focal Group is, according to empowermentopportunities.com, an assemblage of youth leaders and groups from diverse fields, entrepreneurial experts and individuals with youth development and finance experience.

The NYIF Focal Group is “entrusted with processing stakeholders’ views and inputs about the Fund and making same available to the NYIF’s Technical Committee. The group will also provide valuable feedbacks on expectations of the youth generally and deliberate on wide ranging issues around youth entrepreneurship and credit access.”

In fact, Dare, on 10 August, tasked the Focal Group to “provide useful insights around the challenges faced by youth entrepreneurs and youth with burning ideas and how best they think the fund can assist them. The Nigeria Youth Investment Fund is not just another programme of government. You have the responsibility of coming up with suggestions on how to make NYIF serve the needs of the youth and facilitate turning their ideas into viable businesses, helping them to expand existing businesses.”