Seventy youths have have been trained by the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, LSETF, in partnership with the United States African Development Foundation, USADF.
The youths went through a-six-week intensive training in office management, digital marketing and customer relations amongst others, under the USADF/LSETF employability projects, seeking to create more job opportunities for about 3000 young people in Lagos State annually for five years.
In a remark during the graduation ceremony at the American Corner in Ikeja, the US Consulate Public Affairs Officer, Stephen Ibelli explained that the employability project is one of the ways his country is empowering Nigerian youths most of whom are under thirty years of age to lead the private sector of Nigeria into the future.
Mr Ibelli advised the graduate trainees to create diversity in their workforce and an enabling business environment .
“70% of this country’s youth are under the age of 30 and so they need skills to be able to take those jobs and to be able to lead the private sector of Nigeria into the future and we promote entrepreneurship because we know that giving them skills will take them into the future and they’ll be the future leaders of the country, what we do encourage them to do when they do open those businesses is to create diversity in the workforce include men include women include people with disabilities because the more diverse work forces, the more productive it will be”
The Head of Employability at the LSETF, Christian Kaelin stated that the programme is one of the many the Fund is carrying out to prepare young people for the world of work.
The implementing partner, Mrs Funke Medun, who is an alumna of the United States Academy for Women Entrepreneurs, stated that internship placement would be secured for the graduate trainees, while they would also be assisted to get full time employment.
“We’ll help them to secure internship placement for three months and afterwards, we’ll help them get full time employment, so, they are ready to take on the challenge of the next phase, which is to support organisations that need their skills in Lagos State, We have engaged the youths to be very productive for our nation and all of us will reap the benefits” she said.
Some of the graduate trainees told Radio Nigeria that the training programme was worthwhile.
The LSETF/USADF graduate trainees thanked the Lagos State government and all implementing partners for empowering them free of charge.