The Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, has urged Corps Members to key into commodity marketing and other viable agribusiness ventures during their service year.
General Nafiu said agribusiness remains a viable avenue for young people seeking to build sustainable businesses and create wealth.
He spoke in Abuja during the presentation of cheques to six Corps Members who emerged winners of the Farmers for the Future Programme, organised by the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation, BATNF, in collaboration with the NYSC.
The beneficiaries are Dominic Olufemi, FC/25C/1143, who received N3,000,000, Temitope Adewole, ED/26A/2251, N2,000,000, and Abdulwaheed Bala, ED/25B/1402, N2,000,000.
Others are Olanike Mayungbe, OG/26B/1037, Kingsley Udoeyen, KG/26A/1735, and Lorember Lorsue, JG/25B/1742, who each received N1,000,000.
The NYSC Director General commended BATNF for placing Nigerian youths at the centre of its entrepreneurship initiatives through value chain development, employment creation and its partnership with NYSC.
While congratulating the beneficiaries, General Nafiu stressed the importance of value addition to the success and sustainability of any business venture.
“I charge you to spread the news around. We have seen the outcome, and it is a good idea,” he said.
In her remarks, the Acting Director, Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development, SAED, Mrs Winifred Shopeka, said the programme began with an online registration portal for Corps Members engaged in agribusiness to submit their business plans.
She disclosed that nearly 3,000 Corps Members applied for the programme and went through a rigorous selection process that produced 20 finalists.
According to her, the finalists proceeded to a boot camp before participating in a final pitching session that produced the 10 best presenters, from whom the six ultimate winners were selected.
Shopeka added that the six beneficiaries have been mentored and attached to established market operators who will assist in marketing their products.
She also disclosed that Corps Members who did not make it to the final stage were still trained by BATNF.
The Team Lead, BATNF, Mr Oludare Odusanya, congratulated the beneficiaries and urged Corps Members in agribusiness to master the fundamentals and acquire the knowledge and skills required to succeed.
“We are happy with our collaboration with the NYSC, and it will continue,” he said.
Odusanya explained that BATNF is an independent organisation established to contribute to poverty reduction in Nigeria, particularly through sustainable agricultural practices and other interventions.
He said the Farmers for the Future Programme was instituted by BATNF in collaboration with NYSC to encourage Corps Members to venture into agribusiness and become job creators.
He added that the beneficiaries would be attached to mentors who will guide them towards success in their respective businesses.
According to him, the programme has continued to enhance the entrepreneurial capacity of Corps Members since its inception.
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