IYD: PRINCE BALOGUN SPONSORS ‘SUPPORT SCHEME’ FOR LAGOS YOUTH TO BENEFIT FROM N110B NIYF

SAYS JOKE ORELOPE'S LEADERSHIP ERA PROMISES DEVELOPMENTAL STRIDE FOR ALIMOSHO YOUTH

Story by Toyo C. Ngem

The Lagos Youths must get enough quota from the N110Billion National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) put in place by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It is now open for every interested Nigerian Youth to key into the opportunity. This was the declaration made by the former Aspirant for the House of Representatives for Alimosho Federal Constituency, Prince Idris Balogun, while interacting exclusively with Civics Weekly magazine over the celebration of this year’s International Youth Day (IYD).

The APC chieftain fondly called Oluomo kafata, also said he was making the interaction to rejoice with the Alimosho youths who are joining their Lagos body to celebrate a week-long event, He added that Alimosho Youths would surely enjoy developmental stride under the current apex leadership of Her Excellency, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire (OFR).

He went further to reveal that for the IYD event, he would like to support the Lagos youths with the skill in ‘How to write a Business Plan’, which appears to be a “vital ingredient and the core requirement” for any interested person to benefit from the fund.

International Youth day is celebrated every August 12th as a means to call the global attention to “recognizing the energy, passion and dedication” the youths hold in reserve to drive continuity of life on earth from generation to generation. The slogan for this year’s event is “Empowering Youth, Building Tomorrow”. The theme is: "From clicks to Progress: Youth Digital ways for Sustainable Development”.

Making his observations about these two, the Egbe-Idimu Council Chairmanship Aspirant said it was so interesting that the slogan and theme of this year’s event curiously align with the good the governance Nigeria is currently enjoying.

He said: “coincidentally, not only that the slogan aligns with the current reality of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for the youths, the theme also concurs with how you can benefit from the N110B Youth Funds by ‘clicking’ to apply online. From what I learnt about this International Youth Day, there are many ways you can make your contribution to make it meaningful for the Youths in your locality. Thus, for me, I would like to give a supporting scheme that could allow more of Lagos Youth to benefit from the empowerment funds.

"I have studied the requirements to access and benefit from the fund. The core one, which interestingly, is also the technical area is the mandatory submission of a Business Plan for your idea of empowerment you will be using the funds to promote. As a long time player in the private business sector, I know the importance of a Business Plan. It is a compass you will need to guide your investment of the fund into the areas you have claimed to need them. it is not the case where you get the money and begin to look for what to do with it in trial by error.

"Because of this, the support scheme I will sponsor is the simple guide to how interested youth could write the Business Plan all by him/herself in order to benefit from the Youth Fund. I call it 'Click Your BP to Fortune” because the IYD theme says it is “From Clicks to Progress'. Once you have written your Business Plan ("the BP") and you click ‘Submit’ on the funds' site, you are already some days to owning your own business and begin to live a life of prosperity. Meanwhile don’t forget that while I’m saying it is for the Lagos youths, it does not represent the wider scope of pan-Nigerian youths the support scheme will cover, since it will be an online publication. Every Nigerian youth will access it anywhere they are in the world.

According to information from the site, NYIF is a financial assistance to young Nigerians aged 18-35. It is to help them start or grow their businesses withe the aim to reduce unemployment by empowering youths with the resources they need to succeed in their ventures. Part of the life opportunities the beneficiary will get is the skill development with training in important basic needs in business management, financial planning, and entrepreneurship. It will help them with the knowledge to manage their businesses better by making informed decisions.

For the eligibility and material requirements, applicant must be between 18 and 40 years old; must be a Nigerian citizen with National Identification Number (NIN). The business Proposal must give its detailed business plan. This document should outline the business idea, its market potential, financial projections, and growth strategy