• Ministry urges NYIF loan shortlisted applicants to respond promptly
The Youth and Sports Development Ministry has shut down the swimming pool of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, following the death of a 13-year-old boy, Matthew Godwin, at the arena last week.
In a statement by its Director, Press and Public Relations, Manga Mohammed, the ministry said all activities within the pool area are suspended till further notice.
According to the statement, “the ministry has ordered a full scale investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the incident and the activities that led to it in a bid to forestall future recurrence.
“A delegation from the Ministry has since paid the family of the deceased a condolence visit.”
Meanwhile, the ministry has revealed that it is currently delivering a fresh round of disbursements of the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund(NYIF) to youth beneficiaries, whose application have been successful.
It said, however, that Less than 14 per cent of the newly shortlisted applicants from the over 25,000 successful candidates, who are expected to be part of the loan, have responded to emails confirming their approval to receive the soft loan.
“Instructions on how to access the funds are contained in the email sent. The rate of response to the emails have been quite low. However, others who responded have received the funds into their PFI designated bank accounts.”
The ministry urged shortlisted candidates to respond to communication in order to conclude the disbursement process, adding that those who fail to respond risk forfeiting this opportunity.
“The Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) is being disbursed to the youth, who have expressed business needs within a range of N250, 000 to N3 million, depending on the scale of the business and its evaluation.
“About 6,000 youths benefitted from the first set of disbursements in 2020 and the names of the beneficiaries have since been made public.
“While in the second batch 4,375 have so far responded to their loan offer messages and received their funds.”
