A youth corps member, Racheal Ayinde, has trained seven students of Queen Elizabeth School, Ilorin, Kwara State in knitting and empowered three of them with the donation of knitting machines.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that aside the three students who were given the knitting machines, the corps members also donated a knitting machine to the school.
Speaking at the ceremony, on Friday in Ilorin, Ayinde said the high rate of unemployment motivated her into training the students so that they too could be self-reliant and contribute to the development of the country.
She said that she decided to give the school one knitting machine also to ensure continuation of the programme, even after she might have completed her primary assignment.
Mrs Oluwafunmilola Babatunde, Zonal Inspector of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in the state, said that the community development service (CDS) being undertaken by youth corps members was aimed at inculcating the spirit of selfless service in them.
According to her, exposing corps members to diverse traditions and customs of host communities remains the utmost priority of the corps.
Babatunde commended the donor for ensuring that students of the school embraced entrepreneurship.
Earlier, the Head of CDS Department, Mr Anas Alfa, said that NYSC would continue to develop the spirit of entrepreneurship among corps members.
He added that the corps would continue to encourage togetherness and brotherhood among corps members, irrespective of their cultural and social backgrounds.
Alfa commended the donor for her vision and mission, urging the school management to complement her efforts by engaging more students in entrepreneurship skills such as knitting for self reliance.
In her address, the Local Government Inspector of the NYSC in the state, Mrs Omopariola Omolola, urged the beneficiaries to take full advantage of the knitting experience and teach their junior ones.
Also speaking, the school Principal, Hajia Ramat Abdulrahman, stressed the need for the students to emulate the donor by putting into practice what they had learnt.
She noted that the era of waiting for white collar jobs was over.
NAN gathered that a total of 40 students began the programme but only seven completed the processes.
