Speaking during a courtesy visit by the NYSC top management
team to the Heritage Bank headquarters in Lagos, the Scheme’s Director General,
Brigadier –General Johnson Bamidele Olawunmi declared that youth empowerment is
vital to the development of any country’s GDP.
According to him, to tackle the rate of unemployment and
enhance the economic growth of any country, the youth population segment must
be encouraged and supported to develop entrepreneurial skills and
self-reliance. This, he said, led to the establishment of the Skill Acquisition
and Entrepreneur Development (SAED) by the Scheme as a way of channeling more
concerted efforts to youth empowerment to achieve the desired results.
Brigadier General Olawunmi thanked Heritage Bank’s
management for recently offering employment to thirty ex-corps members in
addition to granting of loan facilities to many others to start their
businesses under its SME Loan Scheme.
The NYSC helmsman also showed profound gratitude to the Bank
for its strong support for the NYSC Hope Alive Initiative Scheme, a programme
designed to provide financial assistance to help rehabilitate Corp members who
suffer disabling injuries during their National Youth Service Programme.
He added that through constant support of the Bank and other
well meaning individuals and corporate organisations, the NYSC Hope Alive
Scheme has been able to offer a new ray of opportunity for disabled young
Nigerians to pursue their dream of self realization.
Managing Director of Heritage Bank, Mr. Ifie Sekibo praised
the NYSC for having the foresight and humanitarian spirit to set up the Hope
Alive Initiative.
He said Heritage Bank’s gesture of supporting the Scheme was
informed by its belief that the future wellbeing of the country would be better
guaranteed if all well meaning Nigerians and other stakeholders teamed up with
the Federal Government to empower the youths to create wealth.
He further pledged that the Bank, in line with its mantra to
create, preserve and transfer wealth, would not relent in its effort to provide
resources and facilities needed for the budding entrepreneurs to be successful
in their various businesses.
He described the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship
Development (SAED) programme as one initiative the Bank would continue to
support, adding that the Heritage Bank SkillBoost workshop was initiated to
further complement the drive to equip the youth in their chosen career path or
vocation.
The Heritage Bank boss identified other initiatives by the
Bank which would continue to run in tandem with the SAED to include training
NYSC staff to impart knowledge and skills to youth corps members such as the
Bakery Training offered to the SAED coordinators in the previous batch. He
assured that the Bank would always devote adequate human and material resources
to initiatives aimed at helping corps members become whatever they aspire to be
now and in the future.
Mr. Sekibo also called for collaborations from all economic
stakeholders at all levels to improve the youth welfare index and make Nigerian
youths self-reliant and empowered to
transform the nation in her journey towards sustainable economic development.
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