By ZAKAA LAZARUS
The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, has charged Corps Members to maximise opportunities provided by the service year by venturing into commodity marketing and other viable businesses.
The Director, Information and Public Relations of the Scheme, Caroline Embu, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
Embu said General Nafiu, who described agribusiness as a viable avenue for young people to build sustainable businesses and create wealth, spoke in Abuja during the presentation of cheques to six Corps Members who emerged winners of the Farmers for the Future Programme.
The programme was organised by the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) in collaboration with the NYSC.
The beneficiaries are Dominic Olufemi (FC/25C/1143) – N3,000,000; Temitope Adewole (ED/26A/2251) – N2,000,000; Abdulwaheed Bala (ED/25B/1402) – N2,000,000; Olanike Mayungbe (OG/26B/1037) – N1,000,000; Kingsley Udoeyen (KG/26A/1735) – N1,000,000 and Lorember Lorsue (JG/25B/1742) – N1,000,000.
The NYSC DG commended BATNF for placing Nigerian youths at the centre of its entrepreneurship initiatives through value-chain development, employment creation and its partnership with the NYSC.
While congratulating the beneficiaries, General Nafiu stressed the importance of value addition to the success and sustainability of every business venture.
“I charge you to spread the news around. We have seen the outcome, and it is a good idea,” the DG said.
In her remarks, the Acting Director, Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED), Mrs Winifred Shopeka, said the programme commenced with the opening of an online registration portal for Corps Members engaged in agribusiness to submit their business plans, particularly those with existing businesses.
She disclosed that nearly 3,000 Corps Members applied and underwent a rigorous selection process which produced 20 finalists.
According to her, the 20 finalists proceeded to a boot camp, after which they participated in a final pitching session that produced the 10 best presenters, from whom the six ultimate winners were selected.
Shopeka added that the six beneficiaries had been mentored and attached to established market operators to assist in marketing their products, while Corps Members who did not make it to the final stage were also trained by BATNF.
The Team Lead, BATNF, Mr Oludare Odusanya, congratulated the beneficiaries and urged Corps Members in agribusiness to master the fundamentals and acquire necessary knowledge and skills to succeed.
“We are happy with our collaboration with the NYSC, and it will continue,” he said.
Odusanya explained that BATNF is an independent organisation established to contribute to poverty reduction in Nigeria, particularly through sustainable agricultural practices, adding that the Farmers for the Future Programme was instituted to encourage Corps Members to venture into agribusiness and become job creators.
