Shuaibu Ibrahim, the director-general, National Youths Service Corps, NYSC, on Tuesday, September 7, 2021, assured corps members of efforts by the Federal Government to address the unemployment rate in Nigeria.
Gen Ibrahim made this known in Bauchi during the swearing-in ceremony of the 2021 Batch B Stream 2 corps members in the state, adding that the government is leaving no stone unturned to address the issue headlong.
“As you are already aware, the rate of graduates’ unemployment is of great concern to us as a nation.
“Happily, the Federal Government and other stakeholders are leaving no stone unturned in the efforts to address this challenge as clearly demonstrated through various policies and programmes,” Ibrahim said.
Represented by the Bauchi State NYSC Coordinator, Hamisu Abubakar, the DG informed that the Scheme being proactive in preparing corps members for employment and wealth creation was meticulous in the implementation of its Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development, SAED, Programme.
According to the DG, “as a Scheme that is responsive to prevailing national needs, the NYSC is also assiduous in the implementation of its Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme.
“This programme is meant to prepare corps members for self-employment and wealth creation through vocational and entrepreneurial training as well as linkage with financial institutions and other funding sources for business start-up financing.”
He then appealed to Corps members currently participating in the three-week orientation exercise to avail themselves of the opportunity of being self-employed instead of searching for the rarely available white-collar jobs at the end of their service year.
Explaining the Corps’ insistence on testing prospective corps members of COVID-19, Gen Ibrahim submitted that the orientation exercise was being conducted at a time when Nigeria and the world at large were stepping up efforts to stamp out the dreaded pandemic.
According to him, NYSC had demonstrated its commitment to fighting COVID-19 disease through measures taken in collaboration with the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID -19 (PSC) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC.
“This includes our insistence on testing prospective corps members, course officials and visitors for virus before admission to the camp, enforcement of physical distancing, wearing of face mask and provision of handwashing points at strategic locations among others,” the DG informed.
While appreciating the PSC on C0VID-19 and the NCDC for their support and guidance towards safe and efficient conduct of the orientation exercise, Gen Ibrahim commended the Federal Government for its unwavering support to the Scheme as demonstrated through the sustained provision of resources for the smooth conduct of its operations.
