Lagos State advocates internship to boost employment generation, wealth creation

As part of effort to eradicate unemployment in the state, the Lagos State Government has unveiled a platform to groom interns to promote entrepreneurship among youths in the state.

The initiative tagged: ‘Graduate Internship Programme’ focuses on promoting and sustaining entrepreneurship thereby creating employment through effective use of wealth strategies and resources while collaborating with all stakeholders and the private sector.

The programme, which is an initiative of the state Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment (MWCE), is also aimed at entrepreneurship development through establishment and promotion of business to create sustainable wealth and employment.

Speaking at the unveiling in Lagos, Commissioner of MWCE, Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti said the scheme will help reduce reliance on white collar jobs and help youth to be more creative with their intellectuals rather than waiting for people to create work.

Durosinmi-Etti said: “A lot of our youths will be given the opportunity to groom themselves through the scheme because we all know what it means to wake up in the morning roaming the streets due to lack of jobs.

He added that the scheme would create an enabling environment for the interns to learn and be trained for employment. To achieve this, he said the state government was partnering with the Organsied Private Sector (OPS) as a means of reducing unemployment.

He pointed out that the OPS have been at the forefront of supporting the initiative since and presently there is need for government to support initiative.

His words: To bridge the gap among youth and employees, there is need for employer’s to tolerate interns for whom they are and be ready to train and reshape them for the organsiations manpower needs.

The Permanent Secretary of the MWCE, Yakubu Bashorun said the ministry looks beyond academic qualification in employing intern in the programme but good character amongst others.

“We expect the scheme will expose the interns to expected jobs availing themselves opportunity to excel and also to strengthen their skills and professionalism”, he added.

Also speaking the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), Akintunde Oyebode said the fund was established to promote entrepreneurship, improve access to finance, strengthen institutional capacity of Medium and Small Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) and formulate policies that would improve the business environment in the state.

He pledged support for the ministry in achieving it aims and objective of reducing unemployment.