The Lagos State Government, through the office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, last month, kicked off ‘Jobs Initiative Lagos’ targeted at young people in eight Lagos-based tertiary institutions.
In a statement made available to the Freelanews, Wahab said the candidates would be trained in entrepreneurship, employability and basic digital skills required for the workplace. He added that the programme would also account for the documented gaps in current curriculum that bedevils the employment market as well as to increase labour employability of graduates in the state.
The Governor’s aide assured that candidates, who complete the programme would be featured on jobs portal, from where partner corporate organisations could select fresh graduates for recruitment.
“This Initiative, titled, ‘Digital Skills Initiative Lagos’ (www.dsilagos.ng), is aimed at empowering over one million young people in the state by 2023 with digital skills, which will invariably position Lagos as the technology hub of Africa.
“Students in secondary schools in Lagos would have access to well-trained instructors, while those out of school would access digital skills training and various internship opportunities as they complete the programmes. The projects are being coordinated by LoftyInc Allied Partners Limited – an innovation development company that develops start-up teams, manages innovation programmes, and facilitates impact projects in West Africa. An award-winning pioneer in Nigeria’s innovation sector, LoftyInc is in partnership with Microsoft, VMware’s IT Academy, Wennovation Hub, LoftyInc Capital Management and a host of other corporates,” he said.
He added that the first phase of the initiatives kicked off in June, and would continue over the next four months, leveraging a virtual learning platform while the Digital Skills Initiative Lagos will commence and continue virtually until the ease of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
The two programsme, according to him, are in sync with the ‘THEMES AGENDA,’ of Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu in Lagos, wherein education is a key pillar with the multiplier effect on human capital development in the whole ecosystem.
The programme is an initiative of the Lagos State Ministry of Education, and supervised by the Office of the Special Adviser.
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