Lagos State Government has commenced its first Youth Economic Empowerment Scheme (YEES), designed to make 900 youth self-reliant and cultivate entrepreneurial spirit to generate employment and reduce poverty to its barest minimum in the State.
The economic empowerment scheme designed to train youths in catering, makeover & headgear tying, shoemaking and tailoring skills for the period of eight months, between March and November 2018 at youth centres in the State.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the scheme in Ikeja, the State Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mr. Agboola Dabiri said the prosperity of any society lies in the hands of youths, giving their vibrancy, resourcefulness and energy.
He said ‘YEES’ is another stride of Governor Ambode’s administration to invest in community-based and life enhancement vocational programmes as a tool for solving the escalating problem of youth unemployment in the State.
Dabiri stated that failure on the part of the government to tap into the potential of youths would result into the society being endangered by drug, alcohol and tobacco smoking, contrary to what is expected of youths as future leaders.
In his words, “The goal of this programme is to make these youths self-reliant, promote the spirit of entrepreneurship, thereby through them generate employment, reduce poverty and boost economic development. Also, this programme will help reduce crime rates and youth restiveness so that the State would spend less on addressing social problems”.
The Commissioner, who admitted that challenges are pertinent to such empowerment programmes, called on members of the private sector, Non-Governmental Organizations and corporate bodies to support Government to discover and help youths excel in their areas of interest.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola said ‘YEES’ was aimed at encouraging youths to be more productive and improve the quality of other people’s lives in the State.
He charged the youths to embrace the opportunity offered by Government to imbibe the spirit of hard work, creativity and self-reliance which are essential ingredients for the personal and social-economic development of any nation.
Muri-Okunola assured youths that Government will continue to create conducive environments for youth leadership, participatory platforms, entrepreneurial training and empowerment programmes for them to thrive.
The representative of Ford Foundation, Mr. Dabe Saki commended Lagos State Government for organizing the youth-focused programmes to enable them acquire skills they need to enhance their status to being employed.
2 comments
I am an IT student from Imo state University. Are my also permitted to participate on this program?
This is a good initiative, keep it up.