The Senate on Wednesday passed the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Trust Fund Bill. The bill, which was sponsored by the Senator representing Ekiti South and Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Yemi Adaramodu, seeks to provide a sustainable source of funds for the NYSC, skill acquisition, training and empowerment of Corps members, training and retraining of the personnel of the scheme, development of camps and NYSC formations and facilities.
Sen. Adaramodu during the debate on the Bill at the Senate plenary, pointed out that the trust fund will help make graduates acquire skills under the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) Programmes currently being championed by the NYSC. In addition, the fund will enhance the capacity of NYSC personnel in discharging their duties.
“The decision to establish the National Youth Service Trust Fund was conceived by some of the stakeholders which includes the 36 state governments and the FCT administration. The idea to establish the trust fund was also strongly supported by Civil Society Organisations,” Senator Adaramodu explained.
While responding to journalists after plenary on the strategic importance of the Bill, Senator Yemi Adaramodu who doubles as the Spokesperson of the senate was optimistic that once signed into law by the President, the Fund would not be subjected to abuse like the other existing social interventions programmes.
“Procurement is not going to be solely done by even the DG. So, it’s going to be something that several others will be part of. All the states of the Federation will be part of and all the strata of our governance will be part of – governors, local governments, CSOs will be part of”, he noted.