Wealth creation: Lagos to set up 5 employment centres

Lagos State government has disclosed plans to set up employment centres across the five divisions of the state – Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos, Epe and Ikorodu to give the unemployed an opportunity to seek economic empowerment.

The state has also concluded plans with the private sector to provide free software engineering training to 500 youths resident in the state and also upturn the skills of 250 others on employability and mindset orientation to enable them fit into available job opportunities.

Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, the commissioner in charge of wealth creation, said at a stakeholders’ forum in Badagry, recently, that the software training initiative, which would last for 11 weeks, and was being packaged in partnership with Andela Talent Accelerator, an ICT firm. The other skill upgrade training for additional 250 youths drawn from the five divisions is also to be carried out in collaboration with West African Vocational Education (WAVE)

According to Durosinmi-Etti, application for the training will be done online and 50 top candidates of the Andela training programme will be admitted into the Andela Fellowship.

“The employment centre will afford all the unemployed in the Ojo axis and its environs to register their names, and this will be done in collaboration with LASRRA (Lagos State Residents Registration Agency). The centres will serve as databank for employers of labour to reach out to the unemployed,” he said.

He implored the people of Badagry to leverage their closeness to the border linking neighbouring countries and hone their skills in various vocations in such a way that they would be able to take up jobs being given to their counterpart artisans from other countries.

“I implore the youths of Badagry and its environs to be ready to upgrade their skills to meet with the present day trend. More job opportunities will soon come to this axis in no distant time, and I am sure that only the qualified ones will be considered,” he stated.

He reaffirmed the readiness of the government to continue to play the role of an enabler through active collaboration with the private sectors, employers consultative associations and others providers of employment to provide sustainable job for the unemployed in state.

Fola Padonu, permanent secretary in the ministry, noted that the N25 billion empowerment trust fund made available by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to tackle unemployment and also to assist young entrepreneurs would be made available to only qualified Lagosians with convincing business ideas and innovations, irrespective of location, belief or political affiliation.