The federal House of Representatives has assured of its readiness to fast track the proposed billi seeking the establishment of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Trust Fund, whenever it is presented for debate
Chairman House committee on youth development, Hon. Yemi Adaramodu who gave the assurance st a Symposium on the Imperative of the Proposed NYSC Trust Fund in Abuja, noted that the bill of passed will contribute in no small way to the numerous efforts of the NYSC scheme to change the welfare of youths
The representative extolled the virtues of the NYSC Director General, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, who he noted has championed the cause to deposition the scheme and take it to a height greater thea where he met it
Earlier in his opening remarks the NYSC DG, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim enumerated the gains of the proposed bill, adding that the symposium is aimed at generating ideas that would facilitate the actualization of the bill
He explained that the idea of the Trust Fund came up while the NYSC management were deepening the search for ways of addressing challenges faced by the Scheme
“It may interest you to know that the Federal Government bears the heavier cost of running the Scheme through feeding; medical services for Corps members and course officials during Orientation course; provision of other logistics for Orientation and post-Orientation operations; payment of Corps members’ monthly Personal Allowances; payment of Transport Allowances, provision of Corps members’ kit items; Insurance of Corps members as well as Staff welfare and training, amongst others. On the other hand, Section 7, Sub-Sections 3 and 4 as well as Section 8 of the NYSC Act saddle States and Local Governments with complementary responsibilities such as provision of befitting Orientation Camps, accommodation for Corps members, office accommodation for the NYSC State Secretariats as well as Zonal and Local Government Offices, land for agriculture, release of State Subventions, security of Corps members and support for the Scheme’s Community Development Service.
“Over the years, the exponential rise in Corps population has brought with it the demand for commensurate allocation of resources. While the State and Local Governments have demonstrated commitment to the discharge of their statutory obligations to the Scheme, other equally pressing needs seem to make the resource allocation inadequate. As a consequence, the Scheme contends with problems militating against its smooth operations, especially in the area of provision of start-up capital for Corps members trained during the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme (SAED), inadequate Orientation Camp facilities, inadequate accommodation for Corps members, non-release of State Subvention by some State Governments and dwindling support for the Community Development Service.
Since my assumption of office, I have made sustained advocacy engagement with stakeholders as part of my policy thrust. Amongst other steps, we convened a meeting of the NYSC Top Management with representatives of State Governments, Federal Capital Territory Administration and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria in 2019 and 2021. Part of the resolutions of the 2021 meeting is the proposal for the establishment of a dedicated fund that will be backed by law to complement resource allocation from the three tiers of government. The fund, which will be called the National Youth Service Corps Trust Fund (NYSCTF) is expected to strengthen the operations of the Scheme in the same manner the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, the Police Equipment Trust Fund and the Petroleum Technology Development Fund aid the operations of tertiary educational institutions, the Nigeria Police as well as the oil and gas industry respectively.”
The NYSC boss explained further that the bill, when operational, will help address infrastructural and other logistic needs for the smooth conduct of Orientation Courses, provision Corps Lodges, Corps Transit Camps as well as other essential facilities for the welfare of Corps members.
“In addition, resources from the fund will support Staff training for higher productivity as well as logistic requirements for special aspects of our Community Development Service such as the medical outreaches conducted under the NYSC Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers. In a very significant way, the Fund will also focus on making the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme of the Scheme more functional through adequate provision of training facilities. It will further serve as a reliable and sustainable source of business financing for Corps entrepreneurs that would emerge from the programme.The ripple effects of this will be such that the benefitting Corps members will in turn create jobs for millions of other Nigerians through either step-down of vocational training or direct employment of youths of the host communities. This will surely help to accelerate the growth of the nation’s economy as well as drastically reduce restiveness, violence and criminal tendencies amongst the youths,” he stated.
