The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, announced on Tuesday that the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) has so far assisted over 40,000 startups with access to capital, resulting in the creation of jobs and contributing to the effort to create an enabling environment for businesses, particularly budding entrepreneurs, to thrive.
The Governor spoke during the inaugural edition of the Lagos Inter-Youth Collaboration, which was hosted at LTV Blue Roof, Agidingbi, Ikeja, and was organized by the Office of the First Lady of Lagos State themed: “Youths and Moral Values in an Evolving Society: Challenges and Recommendations.”
According to a statement signed by Mrs Olubukonla Nwonah, Assistant Director, Public Affairs, Office of the Lagos State First Lady, the program was designed to expose over 1,000 participants drawn from 100 youth groups from the formal and informal sectors as well as paramilitary institutions across the state to the state government’s various intervention programs that specifically target them.
Sanwo-Olu stated that: “The LSETF is also here. If my calculation is not wrong, they have intervened in over 40,000 start-ups. They have given some people soft loans; they have given some people grants directly; they have given other businesses development plans so that they can indeed develop their businesses to full fruition.
“They have been on for a couple of years and every year, they are doing lots and lots of great things. The programmes are available irrespective of who you are, where you are from or who you know, as long as you are a resident of Lagos.”
The governor, who also spoke on the work of the Lagos State Science and Research Council, stated that over the last two years, the council has granted grants worth millions of naira to various tech enterprises to help them grow and build on their discoveries.
“The council, headed by the VC of UNILAG, reviews a lot of tech start-up businesses that we have and once they see some of them, they pass them; they give them grants. In the last two years, they have given grants of N10million, N20million, N5million, and N2million to different categories of individuals.
“Our youth need to take advantage of these programmes. See how you can partake and how you can be part of it because it is published everywhere before they get entries. We have been doing it for the past two years and there is another one coming before the end of the year again,” Sanwo-Olu said.
He praised the First Lady’s Office for putting together the program, saying it will help spark conversations about the government’s different initiatives for young people.
The First Lady, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, in her opening remarks said the Inter-Youth Collaboration was aimed at sensitizing youths on the inculcation of moral values that were gradually eroding in today’s society, as well as how they can take advantage of government intervention programs for the youth.
“Our objectives, among others, are to encourage youth participation in Nation-building, create awareness on civic rights and responsibilities, provide access to opportunities profitable for youths, enlightenment of the youths about the activities of the state government, and re-orientation,” she said.
Key government MDAs such as the Ministries of Agriculture, Education, Finance, Wealth Creation and Employment, Youth and Social Development, Science and Technology, the Health Management Agency, and the Office of Sustainable Development Goals and Investment were on hand to educate participants on government programs such as bursaries and scholarship opportunities, low-interest loan opportunities, and the Office of Sustainable Development Goals and Investment.
Representatives from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were also on hand to educate voters on how to engage in the voting process, as well as to hand out prizes such as computers, phones, and other electronic devices.
Special appearances by Nigerian actress and producer Funke Akindele-Bello (Jenifer), as well as hip hop singers Humblesmith and CDQ, were highlights of the show.
