The Central Bank of Nigeria has given N30 million to six undergraduates as it formally launched its Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES) in Abuja on Thursday.

The bank presented cheques of N5 million each to the six pioneer beneficiaries of the scheme to help boost their businesses, create employment and contribute to economic growth.

The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, said the scheme was designed to create a paradigm shift among students and graduates of tertiary institutions in Nigeria from white-collar jobs towards entrepreneurship development.

Mr Emefiele explained that the apex bank was collaborating with polytechnics and universities in the country on the scheme.

According to him, the idea is to make Nigerian graduates job creators rather than job seekers after graduation, as is obtained in some other parts of the world.

“What we are doing today is something that is taken for granted in other climes. At the CBN, we are concerned about the level of unemployment within the youth population, and we are taking steps to address it,’’ he said.

He urged the beneficiaries to apply for the loans well in their businesses to engender growth and create more jobs.

Mr Emefiele further stated that academic certificates of beneficiaries were accepted as collateral and would be returned to them when they offset the loans.

The beneficiaries are Aisha Sulaiman, a graduate of Bayero University, Kano and Chukwudi Ukpabi of Federal Polytechnic, Ebonyi. Others are Zainab Muhammed, a graduate of Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Nura Abdullahi of Kano State Polytechnic, Simeon Ojopane of Kogi State University and Adebowale Olaoye, an accounting graduate of the University of Lagos.

The CBN governor also inaugurated an 11-man body of experts, chaired by Abubakar Suleman, Sterling Bank’s managing director, to steer the scheme.

(NAN)