The Lagos State government has flagged off the up-skilling programme for 2000 tradesmen and artisans in the State with the aim of making beneficiaries 21st century business complaint and enable them compete favorably with their counterparts globally.
The participants according to the Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Hon Mrs Yetunde Arobieke would be trained for 8 weeks in about 20 different skills including, plumbing, tiling, computing, catering, barbing, fashion and cosmetology among others.
The Commissioner, who spoke at Government Technical College, Agidingbi, Ikeja on Friday, during the flag off ceremony said, the trainning is a clear demonstration of the State Government’s commitment to capacity building of Artisans and Traders for global competitiveness.
She said the program was developed to up-skill Artisans and Traders in Lagos State, towards becoming 21st century compliant in line with the THEMES Agrnda.
According to Hon Mrs Yetunde Arobieke, the State Government is determined to ensure that every resident of the State benefit from its policies and programme.
“This trainning is an indication that the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has knowledge and knows the contributions of Artisans and Traders to the State’s economy. They belong to the informal sector, but they contribute up to 60 percent of the GDP of any country or state. Giving them attention is therefore a step in the right direction.”
Arobieke said the trainning is also designed to create for the Artisnas and Traders ease of doing business in diverse ways, including the virtual way, which will digitalise all their operations and they do not need to know anyone before they render service and get paid.
“This trainning is beyond the certificate. It is designed to positively impact on the skills of Artisans and Traders in the state and to strengthen their entrepreneurial skills to provide competitive advantage.”
She added that the program will ensure participants are trained and prepared for the future and able to create jobs for themselves and become employers of labour rather than looking for jobs.
“The potential of this sector in creativity, entrepreneurship development, wealth creation, value addition and employment generation are too important to be ignored by any discerning government.
This government will continue to create opportunities for Artisans and MSMEs to thrive by focusing on the development of complementary infrastructure that helps to improve competitiveness and productivity locally and globally.”
The Commissioner urged the participants to be dedicated to the training, be present for all classes, network with others and contribute their own quota towards developing the state.
The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment, Mrs Kafayat Ajenifuja, said there was need to up-skill the Artisans and Traders to fill the gaps between them and those of other countries and state.
“If these Artisans and Traders whose contributions to GDP is high are trained, there would be a positive effect of their output to the State.”
Executive Secretary, Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board, LASTVEB, Morounke Azeez, said the up-skillikg program is a partnership between the Board and the Ministry, saying they want to bring an end to people getting artisans form other countries.
“We want to be proactive in this regard and that is why we are gradually up-skilling all our Artisans and Traders. We have been doing this in phases, we cannot train all Artisans and Traders in Lagos at once. What we are doing is investing in them and training them in batches gradually and we have been doing this yearly.
“What we train them in are relevant and they meet the need of the 21st century. By the end of the trainning, the participants will not only be upscaled, but would have also built a relationship and network that can enhance their business,” She said.
The Director, Entrepreneurship Department, Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment, Mrs Abiose Taiwo, said the trainning will expose participants to new skills and enable them compete globally.
She recalled that most artisans could not work during the heat of Covid.
“This trainning will include putting the Artisans and Traders on virtual market place. This will enable them get their business going virtually. What we are doing is to formalize this informal sector. This will expose them to higher tasks, higher responsibilities, higher employment and higher income.
“We are training 1500 Artisans and 500 traders for 8 weeks.The training will hold in our four centers across the State; Ikotun, Epe, Ikorodu and Agidingbi. As we are training them, we encourage them to also start training people under them.
The training from the Lagos State government is continous and we urged them all to keep learning. There will always be new innovations,” She said.
President, Lagos State Council for Tradesmen and Artisans, Nurudeeen Buhari, said the continous development of Artisans and Traders in Lagos State is improving the businesses and also helping the development of the States economy.
He said the up-skilling program is a demonstration of a government that desires to ensure Artisans and Traders thrive in their chosen careers.
“We thank the Ministry for this support they have given to us for this trainning which will teach participants, among other things, how to relate with customers, formalize their business and make it virtual to reach global audience.”
He urged the participants to comport themselves and give maximum cooperation to the teachers.
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