The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC), Brig.-General Sulaiman Kazaure says a national curriculum vitae bank and job portal will empower Nigerian graduates.

Kazaure made the remarks on Friday in Lagos at the formal launch of the two projects, which was in collaboration with Diamond Bank, Dragnet Solutions Limited, Gr8jobs Limited and Sigma Pensions Nigeria.

The website address, through which graduates can access the portal, is http://www.nyscjobs.org

According to the NYSC boss, the launch of the portal was to take care of the welfare of both serving and past corps members.

“The portal will, among other benefits, serve as a platform for corps members to get information on job vacancies and market themselves to prospective employers, who are searching for suitable candidates.

“It will also provide means of verification of credentials.

“NYSC has been taking steps to empower corps members for self-employment through one of our programmes – the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme.

“Among the strides we have made so far, are the in-camp and off-camp training in various skills in partnerships with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bank of Industry.

“Through this, the corps entrepreneurs will benefit from start-up loans at single digit interest rates,” Kazaure said.

According to him, NYSC management is consolidating on the successes of the programme through initiatives such as the establishment of Zonal Integrated Skills Centres in the six geopolitical zones.

“The ones for the South West and North East are already at completion stage at both Ekiti and Gombe States respectively.

“It is gratifying to note that the number of corps members that are subscribing to the SAED programme has continued to grow.

“The reason stems from the fact that self-employment remains the best option in the face of the difficulty of securing white collar jobs.”

Kazaure commended the NYSC state coordinator and others whose ingenuity gave birth to the initiative and urged corps members to take advantage of them.

In her keynote address, Mrs Omomene Odike, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Gr8jobs Limited, one of the partners, said that the initiative would contribute to Nigeria’s economic development.

“This will show that technology remains the only way out in driving today’s economy.

“I, therefore, urge corps members to get on the job portal as it connects all graduates nationwide.

“It is going to give access to the latest job available in the market as well as avail you opportunity to showcase your skills,” she said.

Mr Robert Giles, Head of Retail Banking at the Diamond Bank Plc, remarked that youths needed more of information beyond banking.

According to Giles, the youths required a platform to showcase themselves and their talents.

He said that it was good that NYSC bought into the initiative.

“We are proud to work with you and are committed to ensuring the sustainability of this initiative,” he said.

In his remarks, the Lagos State Coordinator of NYSC, Mr Mohammed Momoh said the link created by the national job portal between outgoing corps members seeking jobs and employers of labour was a step in the right direction.

Momoh noted that such graduates would use the platform to reach out to the job market as well as create contacts.

He added that the initiatives would also reduce unemployment among youths in the country. (NAN)

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