The Coalition of Ethnic Nationality Youth Leaders of Nigeria (CEYLON), has expressed support for a bill seeking to establish the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Trust Fund.
The group noted that the establishment of the National Youth Service Corps has brought better understanding among the youths of Nigeria, stressing that it enhanced the appreciation of cultures among Nigerians from inception.
The spokesman of the Coalition, Abdulsalam Moh’d Kazeem, while briefing newsmen in Kaduna on Thursday, expressed delight over the public hearing on a bill seeking to establish the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Trust Fund on the floor of the House of Representatives.
He said, “The Coalition believes that President Muhammadu Buhari who has shown unprecedented support for youth development will gladly sign the passed bill into law.”
He said the NYSC, at its inception, mobilized 2,364 graduates for the scheme but due to the proliferation of government and private-owned tertiary institutions to meet the need of the population, the scheme now mobilizes over 400,000 graduates annually, indicating that more funds are required to achieve the objective of the scheme.
“We are aware that the NYSC was established under a tripartite arrangement, with the Federal, States and Local Governments having various responsibilities as spelt out in the NYSC Act Cap N84 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
“However, with the dwindling resources accruable to the various tiers of Government, the funding of the NYSC has continued to reduce drastically to the level that major responsibilities of the States and Local Governments are shifted to the Federal Government,” the coalition explained.
The group said considering the unquantifiable role the scheme has been playing in promoting national cohesion and giving fresh graduates the needed work experience, believers in the Nigeria project must support the bill that seeks to establish a Trust Fund for the NYSC.
The Coalition noted that the Bill seeks to address the infrastructural deficit in the orientation camps and provide lodges for corp members in states and local government areas while ensuring adequate provision of other operational logistics, expand NYSC ventures to enhance revenue generation as well as address the problem of graduate unemployment in the country through training and empowerment of corp members.
The group said the successful passage of the bill and its implementation would play a significant role in curbing the menace of insecurity, as all ex corp members with business ideas that can put food on their table will be kept busy.
