NYSC Trust Fund long overdue – Gbajabiamila

Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, says creation of the National Youth Service Corps Trust Fund is long overdue.

He spoke in Abuja Thursday at a public hearing by the House Committee on Youths Development, on a bill for an Act to establish the NYSCTF and a bill for an Act to make provision for establishment of Youth Entrepreneurship Development Trust Fund.

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“The National Youth Service Corps Trust Fund Bill is an essential and long overdue conversation about the future of the scheme and the options of reforming it so that in whatever form it continues to exist, it serves the best interest of our beloved country,” he said.

Gbajabiamila, represented by House Leader Alhassan Ado Doguwa, said: “As legislators we must continue to strive to find answers to this very important and critical questions but we must also be innovative in the proposals we make for this reform,” he said.

A former governor of Edo State, Osarieme Osunbo, urged the committee to pay attention to the sourcing and utilisation of the funds to avoid abuses associated in recent times with Trust Funds by officials.

Director-General, NYSC, Major-General Shuaibu Ibrahim, said the Trust Fund is important for empowerment of corps members and would help improve and provide camp facilities and training facilities for the scheme.