Committed to empower youths in the state through various forms of skills acquisition and creating more wealth for people, Lagos State Government has disclosed that its decision to inject 25 billion naira empowerment fund aimed at granting soft loans to young entrepreneurs in the State within the next four years with the interest rate of about one per cent administrative charges is one initiative no government or administration across the country and the whole of West Africa has embarked upon or unrivalled.

The State Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Hon. Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti made the disclosure on Monday, while fielding questions on The Jobshow Africa, a live Radio phone-in programme dedicated to assisting job seekers in the state and across the country to securing their dream job and empowering youths with entrepreneurial ideas that airs on Top Radio 90.9 FM and City FM 105.1 Lagos on Mondays and Wednesdays respectively.

Durosinmi-Etti expressed optimism that rate of unemployment in the State would have been reduced drastically before the expiration of the four-year term of the Employment Trust Fund as established by the incumbent governor of the Lagos State, Akinwumi Ambode.

According to him, the state government is committed to make the loan accessible to every qualified Lagosian, who has convincing business ideas and innovations regardless of status, tribe, gender, locations, beliefs or political affiliations, saying that the newly constituted board members in charge of the Trust Fund were compositions of impeccable individuals mainly from the private sector with just two government officials.

He said, “It is not loan that basically prosper the business of an entrepreneur, but the enabling environment provided by government would assist in making other job areas attractive through provision of good environment for business activities to thrive rather than allowing the populace concentrate on the few available job areas like the multinationals, oil companies, banking sectors and the civil service.”

Explaining how the issue of the skyrocketed rate of unemployment gained prominence in Nigeria, Durosinmi-Etti traced the history to non-inclusive school curriculums in area of skills acquisition which according to him forms part of cognitive value that had gone into extinction.

“When examining the issues of unemployment, it is pertinent to study it from the indices perspective. There is disaggregated unemployment, underemployment and structural unemployment. This implies that there are graduates seeking for employment where their expertise is not needed but they are bent on having such jobs because of the monetary turnovers,” he explained.

The Commissioner also advocated renewed value re-orientation among job seekers and young entrepreneurs, adding that the Ambode administration is determination to address the skill gap deficiency in the State through investment in skills acquisition centres to meet up with present day’s needs and demands, stressing that the influx of foreign artisans into the country would become a history.

He described the situation where the jobs that could be undertaken by Nigerian artisans are given to those from neighbouring countries as worrisome, stressing that the trend could be reversed if the home-based artisans are equipped with qualitative skills that would be more attractive to the private sector.

“Presently, about 60 to 70 per cent of skilled jobs in our country are being handled by foreign artisans. The Lekki Free Trade Zone as at today has a deficit skill gap of almost 2,000 technicians that they couldn’t get among our artisans; contractors handling construction works in the country comes into Nigeria with their workers because they don’t have confidence in our artisans. So I kept wondering if we can’t have Nigerians who have those vocational skills, who could also bridge the gap of the over 50 per cent unemployment rate in the State,” he said.

Durosinmi-Etti pleaded with the youths and indeed all Lagosians to give the change mantra in the State a chance and trust the present administration through progressive partnership towards the attainment of a Lagos that will be the cynosure of all eyes in eradication of unemployment.