Lagos To Bridge Unemployment Gap Through Partnership With Recruitment Agencies

The Lagos State Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mrs. Yetunde Arobieke has said that the State Government will explore partnerships with some recruitment agencies to collate the data of unemployed persons with a view to capturing them in its wealth creation and employment drive.

Mrs. Arobieke stated this today at the 2020 Ministerial Press Briefing, organised by the State Government to mark the first anniversary of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in office, at the JJT Park, Alausa, noting that the Ministry has, since the inception of the present administration empowered and created wealth for different categories of people including artisans, young entrepreneurs and university graduates.

She said that there are presently 48,151 registered job seekers on the Ministry’s database from which the State Government leverages its employability and entrepreneurship programmes, stressing that the actual employment status of residents is required by the government to cater and bridge the unemployment indices in the State.

In her words, “capturing all job seekers who desire to be gainfully employed or wish to become entrepreneurs is an issue which we hope to tackle going forward. However, we cannot do this alone but we would be inviting and exploring a partnership with Recruitment Agencies in this onerous task of job creation”.

The Commissioner averred that one of the Ministry’s partnerships with the United States African Development Fund (USADF), through Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), produced a grant signing in respect of the USADF Youth-Led Enterprise.

According to the Commissioner, the LSETF/USADF initiative is a $10million matching fund aimed at impacting over 15,000 youths in Lagos State with skills and internships expected to result in sustainable job opportunities, expressing confidence that more of such partnerships would position youths to take advantage of employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in the emerging African economy.

To further complement the wealth creation and employability drive of the State Government, Arobieke informed that the various Job Centres located in five strategic areas across the State have been identified for repositioning to meet internationally acceptable standards in terms of physical structure and deliverables.

While noting that the Job Centres are strategically positioned and spread across the five divisions of the State in Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos Island and Epe, the Commissioner urged prospective job seekers to visit the centres and register their names, qualifications and signify their career choice.

She explained that the Job Registration Centres have been designed to take care of the job needs of the people, while also filling the skill gaps between the employers of labour and the job seekers.

Assuring Lagosians that the State government will continue to monitor and regulate the development of the informal sector to alleviate poverty and create an enabling environment for SMEs and industrialists, Arobieke maintained that this administration is focused on attaining the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda goal of making Lagos State a 21st Century Economy.

She listed other achievements of the Ministry in the period under review to include: a mindset reorientation programme for 300 unemployed youths in the State tagged “Rethinking Education and the Future of Work”; and a training session organised for 250 unemployed youths to empower them and enhance their employability skills in the areas of Team Work, Time Management and Good Communication.

“Also in the pipeline is the development of a robust Artisans Virtual Database to create capacity for planning and socio-economic investment in the informal sector by leveraging on the entrepreneurial skills of artisans in the State to create wealth and make artisans employers of labour” the Commissioner said.

“The Ministry would continue to explore a collaborative strategy to attract and encourage the Private Sector Participation, aggressively pursue skill acquisition as well as other developmental activities through the creation of an enabling environment, friendly policies and sustainable wealth”, she added.

Also , the State Government has unfolded various agricultural projects that will ensure and sustain the food security situation in its communities.

The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Prince Gbolahan Lawal disclosed this today while rendering the account of activities of his Ministry to commemorate the first year anniversary of the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, noting that these agricultural projects would ultimately shore up the food security status of the State from its current 18% to 40%.

Lawal noted that some of the projects are the Songhai Project, now Avia Food Production Centre; the Araga Food Production Centre; the establishment of one ton per hour Fish Feed Mill (Extruder System); and the establishment of the Wholesale Produce Market.

He listed others as the establishment of Strategic Food Reserve, completion and commissioning of the 32-Metric Tons Per Hour Rice Mill at Imota; the optimal utilisation of the Farm Settlements and Estates in the State; empowerment of Lagos Agriprenurship Programme (LAP) graduands as well as the establishment of 160 hectares feedlot at Imota, Epe.

Noting that the present situation of food security in the State has been impacted by the lessons learnt from the Coronavirus pandemic, Lawal stated that the government will formulate policies to foster sustainability.

“This calls for deliberate effort and policy formulation on the part of Government in order to prepare for future events that may want to test the food reserve and supply system of the State. The Ministry has, therefore, embarked on some of these projects in the course of the year to shore up the food security status of the State,” Lawal averred.

The Commissioner explained that these deliberate efforts and policy formulation by the present administration will guide against situations that may affect food security or threaten the food reserve and supply system of the State.

He pointed out that the projects will increase agricultural production to meet the food needs of the State’s growing population, transform agriculture to commercial and export-oriented production by essentially focusing on boosting local food production and generate employment, especially for the youths.

Lawal also envisaged that these projects would provide training facilities for agriprenuers, youths, women and students in agricultural schemes; promote efficient distribution systems for agricultural produce through wholesale, retail and distribution channels; provide good storage facilities for a purposeful food reserve in the State as well as generate more revenue for the State Government.

He gave an assurance that the State Government would not rest on its oars but would rather continue to intensify efforts in the agricultural space, especially where the State has comparative ecological and socio-economic advantages.