The Federal Government has announced plans to empower members of the National Youth Service Corps that engage in agriculture after their one-year mandatory service with the sum of N2m.
The Executive Director, Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute, Dr. Patricia Pessu, made the announcement on Monday while speaking at a workshop on the value addition of agricultural commodities for 40 corps members selected from the 16 local government areas of Kwara State.
He decried the increasing number of unemployed youth in the country and added that a similar opportunity awaited any trainee of the current batch who submitted a promising proposal at the end of the service year.
His words “to put things into context, Nigeria’s unemployed youth of 13.9 million is more than the population of Rwanda and several other African countries.
“This youth population is also about 64 percent of total unemployed Nigerians, suggesting that the most agile working class population in the country remains unemployed.”
Reacting to the gesture, the NYSC State Coordinator, Mrs. Francisca Olaleye, commended the agency for the opportunity given to corps members and gave the assurance that the beneficiaries would justify the gesture.
