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Tag: Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF)

  • Recession: NYPF support 35 young professionals with N50m grant

    Recession: NYPF support 35 young professionals with N50m grant

    The Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF) in partnership with the Heritage Bank Plc has intensified its support to young entrepreneurs with Grant of N50million, especially in this period of recession.

    The Grant was awarded to about 35 young entrepreneurs in agricultural, creative industry and the information & communication technology (ICT) sector after a rigorous review process conducted by an independent body, out of the tens of thousands who applied for the grant.

    In his remarks, Mr Moses Siasia, the Chairman/Founder of the NYPF said the idea of the Grant was born out of the desperation of young Nigerians to build businesses in an economy fraught with a seemingly endless onslaught of challenges.

    Speaking at the award ceremony held in Lagos, the MD/CEO of Heritage Bank, Mr Ifie Sekibo, affirmed that the 35 successful entrepreneurs will be provided with the required guidance on fund management as individual beneficiaries would get at most N2million each.

    Sekibo who was represented by the Divisional Head, Retail/SME, Mrs Ori Ogba stated that the bank supported this initiative because of its belief in Nigerian youths, who make up about 80 percent of the country’s population.

    Ogba expressed her satisfaction in the long term sustainability of the initiative, stating, “We will not support something that will not stand the test of time.”

    YESGrant Brand Ambassador Mrs Stephanie Okereke-Linus congratulated the winners of the Grants and praised Heritage Bank for its commitment to young people. She advised other banks to emulate Heritage Bank while seeking beneficiaries to put the money received to good use.

    30-year-old Paul Okoroafor owner of Santa Paulo Delakusa one of the beneficiaries who received the sum of N2 million said the fund will be used for full oil palm production. He expressed gratitude to the NYPF and Heritage Bank for giving hope to them

  • Siasia lauds Wike over plan to reopen vocational training centre

    Siasia lauds Wike over plan to reopen vocational training centre

    Chairman of Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF), Mr. Moses Siloko Siasia, has lauded Rivers State Governor, Chief Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike, for ordering the reopening of the Port Harcourt Technical and Vocational Training Centre managed by professionals from Germany.

    Recall that the NYPF leader had during a visit to the school few weeks ago, appealed to the governor to reopen the school, which had been under lock and key for the past three years.

    Siasia, who spoke to newsmen in his Abuja office, urged other state governors and political leaders in the country to emulate the exemplary leadership qualities of Wike, aimed at opening windows of opportunities where young people are engaged constructively.

    “We commend Governor Wike for reopening the technical and vocational training centre in Port Harcourt. Governor Wike has actually directed that the school should be reopened on October 15. I want to commend him for his show of exemplary leadership. We went there without any form of political bias.

    “We went there to champion the cause of young people, to appeal to him to reopen the school that had been abandoned for over three years ago. On hearing the true situation of the school, Governor Wike called the parties involved and ensured that at the end of the meeting, ordered that the school should be reopened. It is an uncommon show of leadership.

    “I am using this opportunity to call on other leaders, most importantly our state governors to emulate the attitude and character of Governor Wike because it is very difficult for you to see leaders, that welcome constructive criticism and are proactive,”

    “This is leadership and this is true leadership. It shows that such a leader sees youth growth as a priority for national development. Other governors and leaders should see youth growth as a priority for sustainable development and peace. We commend him and appeal that he keeps to his word that the government will reopen the school,” he said.

  • Young professionals urge Wike to revive abandoned vocational centre

    Young professionals urge Wike to revive abandoned vocational centre

    The Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF) has appealed to the Rivers State government to revive the abandoned Port Harcourt Technical and Vocational Centre.

    Chairman of NYPF, Mr. Moses Siloko Siasia made the appeal in Port Harcourt while speaking to newsmen shortly after he led members of the forum to inspect the centre.

    According to him, “this is a training centre that have been abandoned and we are here to appeal to the Rivers State Governor to revisit whatever agreement or negotiations that they had with the facilitators of this institution”.

    “Today, the world is talking about sustainability for young people; how young people can partner with stakeholders and government across board to ensure that we bring the much needed development and growth to our people.”

    He stated that when reopened, the school will help in giving vocational and technical training to youths of the state and beyond, thereby reducing crime and other anti-social vices in the state.

    The NYPF chairman said, “We believe that this is one of the training institutions or vocational centres that can be used in building the capacity of young people who are seen as trustees of prosperity.

    The representatives of the German Association of Vocational Training, Uwe Theimer, said the association will partner with the Rivers State government to bring German quality of education to the state through the centre.

    Theimer said, “Our aim is to bring the same quality of German education to Nigeria and we want to follow the concept, which is over 200 year old.”

    In his remark, the Head Teacher of the vocational centre, Augustine Awoyesuku, regretted that state-of-the-art equipment procured for the school are not been put to use.

  • NYPF to launch N.5bn grant for entrepreneurs, students

    NYPF to launch N.5bn grant for entrepreneurs, students

    The Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF) in partnership with Heritage Bank and its development partners is set to launch a N500 million special seed fund (YESGrant) for young Nigerians.

    The Seed fund which is scheduled to be launched on Tuesday 22nd March 2016, is part of the NYPF efforts to grow more indigenous entrepreneurs, encourage the culture of self-reliance and deepen the Nigeria economy.

    This is contained in a statement signed by the Director of Communications Miss. Owomilere Obe, saying that the scheme was borne out of the need to address the enormous challenges young people go through in their quest towards achieving set goals in their small scale businesses and in their academic pursuits. She noted that the grant will enable young entrepreneurial postulants with creative ideas in Agriculture, ICT and creative industry start or expand their business concepts and provide over 500 Nigerian students schooling locally or abroad with tuition to pursue their academic dreams and aspiration in the areas of research and technological/scientific innovation.

    “The main objective of the NYPF (YESGrant) Programme is to deepen the Nigerian economy by deliberately encouraging and supporting aspiring entrepreneurs in Nigeria to develop and execute business ideas that will lead to massive job creation and also paying tuition for indigent students so that they can be relevant to the society by having relevant skills that employer’s needs. Jobs are a foundation of economic and social development, improving living standards, productivity and social cohesion. Jobs are responsible for moving people out of poverty”. She said.

    Owomilere, therefore encouraged all young person to apply through the grants application system that will be available online and provide all supporting documentation on or before June 2016 to be eligible for the first year disbursement to award recipients in August 2016.

    To qualify for YESGrant, prospective recipients must be between the ages of 18- 40, be registered members of the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF), and be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) using their registered companies and have an account with Heritage Bank prior to disbursement of fund.

    Student’s award recipients must in addition provide their matriculation number and academic progression report.

    The Nigerian Young Professionals Forum, a non-governmental organisation has been in the forefront lead of building the next generation of business frontiers through intervention programmes for young Nigerians.

    In 2015, over 1000 carefully selected entrepreneurs made up of young business owners residing in Nigeria and in the Diaspora met at the International Conference Centre in Abuja for the debut of the Young Nigerians CEO’s Conference and Exhibition 2015 organized by the NYPF.

    The conference with the theme: ‘Promoting Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Building Economic Leaders for Tomorrow’, afforded young entrepreneurs in Nigeria the opportunity to exchange ideas with their peers from other parts of the world and also served as a platform for the young business owners to discuss challenges they encounter in their operations and its impact on the Nigerian economy.