Corp Members entitled to loans from 500 thousand to 2Million - DG

NYSC DG

The Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier-General Johnson Olawumi, has urged corps members to key into the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Programme (SAEDP), so as to be job creators and not seekers after service year.

Olawumi said this on Wednesday, at Kwara State NYSC Permanent Orientation camp, during his familiarisation tour of camps nationwide.

He disclosed that the directorate of NYSC was ready to offer loans to 500,000 corps members who engaged in the programme the sum of N2million each for their business take off.

Olawumi stated that corps members needed to be loyal and patriotic during and after service years, just as he urged them to be ambassadors of the country wherever they find themselves.

He said “SAED programme was designed to turn some of these corps members to job creators and not job seekers, and we realised that when we introduced the skills, it was not just sufficient, they needed to be empowered because if you give them the skills and they don’t have money to set up small businesses, then the work done is zero, so based on that we approached Bank of Industry and Heritage Bank.

“At the Bank of Industry, we have started and the package is quite attractive. A corps member who undergoes the training package upon his application and submission of business proposal will be entitled to loan, ranging from N500, 000 to N2million and the condition is quite attractive with 9 per cent rate payable within five years.

“We are not asking them to go and bring landed property collateral; the NYSC certificate is just collateral.

“How you carry yourself to the future matters a lot, you are all Nigerians, you have no country apart from Nigeria so at all time, I want to implore you, you must all be very loyal and show a lot of loyalty to your country, be disciplined and avoid saying any derogatory words about your country.

“Nigeria may not be the kind of country we envisaged as it is now, but one thing is sure, this country is going to move better, and we are already setting the foundation that is why the new administration came with the idea of change, though, the process of change might not be as fast as we want it to be, it might be slow but surely, we are going to get there and have Nigeria of our dreams.”

“You need to be loyal and patriotic to your country, I have done that all through my service year, I have always shown loyalty and patriotism to Nigeria, and probably that is what I’m today.”  He then commended the state coordinator and staff of Kwara State for such great improvements and also appealed to them to care and treat Corp members as their children.