NYIF: SPORTS MINISTRY SETS UP FOCAL GROUP
Virginia Agada
The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development in Nigeria, has set up a Focal Group on the newly approved Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF). The Focal Group is an assemblage of youth leaders and groups from diverse fields, entrepreneurial experts and individuals with youth development and finance experience.
In a release by A.B.Lere-Adams, Director, Press/Media Office of the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development on Monday August 10, 2020, the NYIF Focal Group is entrusted with processing stakeholders’ views and inputs about the Fund and making same available to the NYIF’s Technical Committee. The group will also provide valuable feedbacks on expectations of the youth generally and deliberate on wide ranging issues around youth entrepreneurship and credit access.
Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare had tasked the Focal Group to “provide useful insights around the challenges faced by youth entrepreneurs and youth with burning ideas and how best they think the fund can assist them. The Nigeria Youth Investment Fund is not just another programme of government. You have the responsibility of coming up with suggestions on how to make NYIF serve the needs of the youth and facilitate turning their ideas into viable businesses, helping them to expand existing businesses.”
The twenty-three-member Focal Group is led by, Oladipo Adebiyi with Mr. Samson Itodo, Executive Director of Youth Initiative for Advocacy Growth & Advancement (YIAGA) as Deputy Team Lead.
The membership of the group includes Thomas Enitan Eleoramo, Funds Manager/Investment Banker; Ife Adebayo, SA Innovation & Entrepreneurship Office of the Vice President; Mrs. Fayo Williams, CEO, Simply Exponential Consult; Mr Abubakar Badre; Mr Olisameka Onyeka; Mrs Yetunde Adeniji and Barrister Usman Bappa.
Others are Mr Gbenga Adeyemo, Youth Development Coach/Journalist; Ubale Nalado, Development Expert, Zainab Haruna, CEO Decipher Solutions; Lukman Edu, Youth Entrepreneur/Lawyer; Bella Amadi, Founder, Girls Lead Hub; Oguamanam Jacqueline; Amina Abdulsalam; Tayo Olusunde, Executive Director, Mind the Gap; Mubarak Mijinyawa, Speaker, Nigerian Youth Parliament; Morakinyo Oladotun Ebenezer; Sokubo Sara-Igbe Sokubo, President, National Youth Council of Nigeria; Aisha Usman; Joel Ogunsola; Obi Ozor, CEO Truck 360; and Idris Olorunnimbe, Member- Lagos State Employment Trust Fund.
