Coalition urges Buhari to sign youth bill

By Adeleye Kunle

A coalition of religious organizations and civil society organizations (CSOs) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sign into law the National Youth Service Corps Trust Fund, which was passed by the National Assembly.

According to the coalition, the Trust Fund Bill aims to provide world-class skills acquisition and entrepreneur centers across the country in order to combat unemployment and grow the economy.

The coalition hinted in a statement by Bishop Abel Kings (College of Bishops), Sheikh Shehu Auwal Musa (College of Imams), and Comrade Solomon Semaka (CSOs) that the NYSC Trust Fund is one of the few bills that received the most support from all stakeholders, pointing to its acceptability as evidenced by its quick passage.

“The NYSC Trust Fund is one of the few bills passed by the National Assembly that received the greatest number of memoranda from the public in support of its passage,” the statement says.

“This mass appeal for the bill demonstrates the trust fund’s acceptability, owing primarily to the role the NYSC scheme has played in shaping the Nigerian economy and the lives of ordinary Nigerians in the face of scarce resources.”

“As a result, the Trust Fund comes in handy in consolidating funding gaps in order to actualize the scheme’s vision and mission, particularly in the areas of job creation and skill acquisition.”

“It is well known that those who refuse to acknowledge the modest legacies this administration is leaving in various sectors of Nigerian society, particularly in the area of youth development, have deemed it fit to attack and bring into disrepute the impeccable image of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and, by extension, the Trust Fund, without which the scheme will be bankrupt and unable to meet its obligations to Nigerian youths in the near future owing to the inability of the scheme to meet its obligations to Nigerian youth

“It is our position that this scheme has benefited every Nigerian and family; therefore, anyone attempting to tarnish the scheme’s image is malicious and should not be taken seriously.”