The World Bank has expressed interest in partnering with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) as part of its effort to reduce the increasing number of unemployed youths in the country.
The Country Director of the World Bank, Ndiame Diop, made this known on Tuesday when he led a team on a courtesy visit to the NYSC National Directorate Headquarters in Maitama, Abuja.
Diop highlighted the scheme’s achievements over the past fifty-one years, noting that the deployment of graduate youths across the country has transformed the development landscape of many rural areas.
He further stated that the efforts of Corps Members in promoting national unity, cohesion, and socio-economic development in the country cannot be underestimated.
In a statement, the Acting Director of Information and Public Relations, Caroline Embu, quoted Diop as lauding successive batches of Corps Members for their contributions in reducing infant and maternal mortality rates in the country.
“The World Bank is interested in supporting NYSC in its developmental strides,” he added.
In his remarks, the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier General Y.D. Ahmed praised the existing synergy between the Scheme and the World Bank, which has contributed to staff capacity building.
He mentioned that Corps members have played significant roles in various national assignments, including elections, population censuses, sensitisation programs, and immunisation campaigns. “Corps members are available in all the 774 local government areas in the country,” he added.
The Director-General also disclosed that NYSC introduced Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development into its Orientation Course in 2012 to empower Corps members with vocational skills that could make them employers of labour.
He noted that more than 2 million Corps members have participated in the skill acquisition training, with about 600,000 of them having set up thriving businesses in different locations across the country.
General Ahmed further added that the NYSC Management has partnered with many organisations, such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bank of Industry (BoI), Access Bank, Unity Bank, Wema Bank, and the NNPC Foundation, which offer loans to Corps Members to start their businesses.
However, he disclosed that some orientation camps do not have standard skill acquisition training centres, and the start-up capital for Corps members is also grossly inadequate.
“If the World Bank partners with us, we will be better at what we are doing to reduce youth unemployment,” the DG concluded.
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