Mohammed Oluwatimileyin Taoheed reports,
Track News Nigeria learnt that a coalition of religious groups and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has made a call on President Muhammadu Buhari to give his assent to the National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) Trust Fund passed by the National Assembly into law.
The coalition claimed that the Trust Fund Bill is pegged to deliver superb skill acquisition and commercial centres all over the country to curb unemployment and ensure rapid development of the economy.
As seen in a statement by Bishop Abel Kings (College of Bishops), Sheikh Shehu Auwal Musa (College of Imams) and Comrade Solomon Semaka (CSOs), the coalition pointed that the NYSC Trust Fund is one of not-so-many bills that gathered huge support from all stakeholders, a shadow that its acceptability as can be seen in its brisk passage.
Part of the statement reads: “The NYSC Trust Fund is one of the few bills passed by the National Assembly that received the highest number of memoranda from the public in support of its passage.
“This mass appeal towards the bill points to the acceptability of the trust fund chiefly because of the role the NYSC scheme has played in shaping the Nigerian economy and the lives of average Nigerians amidst scarce resources.
“The Trust Fund therefore comes handy in consolidating funding lacuna in order to actualise the vision and mission of the scheme especially in the area of job creation and skill acquisition.”
“It has come to public knowledge that those who choose not to acknowledge the modest legacies this administration is leaving in the various sectors of Nigerian society, especially in the area of youth development have deemed it fit to attack and bring to disrepute, the impeccable image of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and by extension the Trust Fund, without which the scheme will be bankrupt and unable to meet its obligation to Nigerian youths in the nearest future owing to the increasing number of youths enrolling annually.
“It is our position that this scheme has benefited every Nigerian and family, therefore, anybody trying to tarnish the image of the scheme is out for mischief and must not be taken seriously.”
