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The Senate on Tuesday passed a Bill seeking to establish the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Trust Fund.
The Bill, among others, seeks to provide a sustainable source of funds for the NYSC, skills acquisition, training and empowerment of corps members, training and retraining of the personnel of the scheme, development of camps and NYSC formations and facilities.
The Bill was sponsored by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Youth and Sports, Adeyemi Adaramodu (APC, Ekiti South).
During the second readings of the Bill, Adaramodu explained why it was necessary.
The senator assured fellow Nigerians that it would help to make graduates acquire skills under the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programmes.
He said the NYSC Trust Fund Bill would also improve the lives of corps members and take care of issues pertaining to their welfare and NYSC personnel.
“Aince the early years of the National Youth Service Corps, which was established in May 1973 – that’s 51 years ago – this is going to be the first attempt at making sure that the Act that established the National Youth Service Corps is dealt with to ensure and afford Nigerians to benefit from why the NYSC was established.
The management of the scheme has not only trained and empowered corps members but has instilled patriotism and the spirit of nationalism in corp members since then.
“The decision to establish the National Youth Service Trust Fund was conceived by some of the stakeholders, including the 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration. The idea to establish the trust fund was also strongly supported by civil society organisations (CSOs),” Asaramodu had said.
