The Bank of Industry (BoI) is set to empower no fewer than 1,000 graduates through its Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund Capacity Building Programme.

Speaking at the opening session of the programme organised by the BoI, in conjunction with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), the managing director of the BoI, Mr Rasheed Olaoluwa, disclosed that the BoI embarked on an aggressive empowerment programme to make corps members employers of labour.

Represented by the executive director, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises of the BoI, Mr Waheed Olagunju, at the event held at the NYSC Orientation Camp, Ede, OlaOluwa explained that 1,000 participants at the capacity building programme in seven centres across the country were selected from the over 3,000 that participated in an online business competition.

He added that 144 corp members drawn from Ogun, Osun, Kwara, Oyo, Ekiti, and Ondo states are participating in the 3-day programme after which they would be told to submit bankable business plans that will enable them access up to N2 million loan repayable between 3 to 5 years.

OlaOluwa noted that Nigeria is endowed with abundant natural resources, therefore the much pronounced high youth unemployment rate is artificial.

According to the organisation, because Nigeria is endowed with abundant solid mineral deposits, petroleum, arable land suitable for farming and good population, the country should naturally not have challenges providing jobs for her school leavers.

He further explained that the interest rate on the loan is 9%, adding that effective monitoring mechanism has been put in place to ensure that the programme is successful.

OlaOluwa also opined that the participants would be made to submit their NYSC discharge certificates and provide guarantors, but stressed that the measure put in place was never to punish defaulters but to ensure seriousness and make the programme a success.