Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has called for the provision of loans and more empowerment for National Youth Service Corps members.

She spoke during the closing ceremony for the 2021 NYSC Entrepreneurship Festival in Abuja Weekend.

Mrs Buhari noted the Federal Government programme directed towards the youths have been successful.

The First Lady, who was represented by Wife of the Vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, said: “The level of skills and quality of products exhibited here today attests to the fact that Nigeria has the potential manpower to grow in leaps and bounds.

“That’s why the Federal Government has set up several youth empowerment schemes which has recorded similar successes.

“I, therefore, call on captains of industry and financial institutions to grant more access to credit facilities and venture capital to these corps members to become entrepreneurs.”

She tasked the corps members not to rest on their oars, but to continue expanding their horizons.

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In his remarks, the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, said the government was making moves to establish the NYSC Trust Fund.

“I am aware that the desire of the Scheme to come up with the NYSC Trust Fund. This is in the process, I believe when that is approved many more young people will benefit from various loans to empower themselves and other young people,” he said.

Earlier, NYSC Director-General, Brigadier-General Shuaibu Ibrahim, explained the Scheme’s Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme was designed to create a fundamental change in the underlying assumptions held by many graduates about economic empowerment after school.

He said the programme was also an effort to develop a culture of entrepreneurship for economic development and job creation in the country.

“There’s no gainsaying the fact that the panacea against graduate youth unemployment is to stir the mindsets of our youths away from white-collar jobs to entrepreneurial engagements,” Ibrahim said.