Right skills needed to bridge unemployment gap, says Sanwo-Olu

IBRAHIM QUADRI

 

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Wednesday commended the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) for creating over 200,000 jobs for unemployed residents of the state.

 

Sanwo-Olu gave the commendation as the Chief Host at the Lagos State Employment Summit 2024 which witnessed the launch of the Labour Market Information Management System.

 

The Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) organized the Summit themed: “Job Creation, Uniting for Impact: Create, Collaborate, Change,” held in Victoria Island, Lagos.

 

While charging the state Employment Trust Fund to do more in the area of employment creation, Sanwo-Olu said: “LSETF has provided over 200,000 jobs but it is still not enough. There’s still a lot that we need to do.

 

“What a conference as this will do is for us to understand where the future of work is, what are the skills that are required, which people now and in the future, would be asking for.

 

“Part of the things that people need to take away from this Summit is first, you need to be able to have the right skills for what people want for today’s market and tomorrow’s market.”

 

“People need to understand what kind of skills they must have to be able to position themselves for those opportunities,” the Governor stated.

 

While also lauding the LSETF for its efforts to create jobs, the Governor said: “The LSETF has done a lot of heavy lifting, they have kept the mandate with them and their partners, ensuring that in the last couple of years, they have been able to not only to train but to also support, engage and take a lot of thousands of people out of the unemployment market.”

 

The Governor added that the state government has trained many people in various skills acquisition centres and empowered them with startup funds.

 

Sanwo-Olu called on the private sector and stakeholders in the labour and employment industry to collaborate with the Lagos State government to tackle the unemployment trend.

 

He noted that, “Lagos State employment conference, which is a yearly Summit, creates a platform and an opportunity for the Fund to not only underscore their relevance or the basics for their set up but also to analyse what has been their success story.”

 

The Governor, however, stated that people need to understand that once LSETF gives them that financial support, they need to pay back so that others can benefit.

 

The Governor explained that the labour market management information system is a platform where both buyers and sellers in the labour market can go to and interplay.

 

Also at the event, Acting Executive Secretary for LSETF, Feyisayo Alayande, said that the Summit, which is the third edition of the state employment conference, “Is an avenue to bring the demand and supply side of labour, our partners, stakeholders, government and everyone that matters to create employment in Lagos State.”

 

Alayande said that the LSETF has some pillars to deliver, which include “employability, access to capital, Lagos Innovate, which is a training arm of technology and also business support.”

 

The LSETF boss tasked stakeholders on  the call to action, which she said, is “to ensure that in our little space, we are not working in silos, that as we create, we need to collaborate and we need to make change and impact in Lagos.

 

“The call for action for everyone is to unite for impact to create that job, while we collaborate and create a change in Lagos State,” Alayande added.

 

 

For a better society

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