Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, yesterday called on members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) to support the state’s graduate internship scheme, in order for them to get necessary skills transforming them to job creators rather than job seekers.
Ambode, made the call at the Government House, Alausa, Ikeja, when he received a delegation of the management of Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited.
According to him, there was the need for the sector to deplore their corporate social responsibility (CSR), towards empowering youths with relevant trainings with the ultimate goal being to contribute to the advancement of the Nigerian society.
While appreciating the company for its giant strides in CSR, he stressed that such relationship could be scaled up to the optimal benefit of the society, especially by creating wealth for fresh graduates.
He said: “I want our relationship on CSR to be scaled up so that we can start to have some kind of synergy between your expertise and the graduates that we churn out from our tertiary institutions in Lagos here.
“We can look at a way of exploring new ways of creating wealth among our graduates or even in accessing training that you can afford us, both locally and externally,” he said.
He said this, “In the end will be able to do what we think is good for our new graduates and we will be part of the success story of Total and also make our graduates to be useful to the society on their own.”
Ambode also commended the company for investing heavily in Nigeria at a time when some others are running away from the country, saying the development underscores the trust and commitment of the firm to the improvement of Nigeria’s economy.
The governor reiterated his commitment to creating a good business climate in the state, saying that such would ultimately go a long way in creating jobs.
“We believe strongly that whatever it is that we can do to make Lagos safer; to make Lagos more comfortable for investors and improve on the business climate, we would not hesitate to do it because at the end of the day, it will create more jobs for our people, we would get more taxes and also provide infrastructure for the people,” he said.
Ambode reiterated that this is a partnership that would enhance a symbiotic relationship; adding government will do whatever it can to assist Total, in terms of specific needs.
