Lagos State Government said that it has identified the need to tailor its employment and wealth creation initiatives to meet present-day realities that would place the youth population at par with their contemporaries across the globe.
The Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mrs. Yetunde Arobieke stated this recently during a Stakeholders Forum on wealth creation organised by the Ministry at the Secretariat, Alausa-Ikeja.
Arobieke disclosed that the choice of the theme for the year’s Forum: “Youth Employment in the Digital Economy. Technology+Entrepreneurship”, was informed by the fact that technology has become a business enabler as all Businesses now revolve around it.
She said: “Technology is the only way to be relevant in the global economy at all levels. Technology is the wave and Entrepreneurship must align with this new wave. As the Ministry in charge of Wealth Creation, what we do is that we create initiatives. After creating initiatives, we formulate, execute then evaluate all our initiatives to look at how best to improve on them”.
Arobieke informed that the Forum, being an annual gathering, usually brings experienced speakers who can critically access the wealth creation initiatives of the government, pinpoint certain grey areas and offer professional advice for future wealth creation plans by the government.
The Commissioner, who said that she was impressed with the presentation from Mr. Tim Akano, the Guest Speaker at the event, added that Akano was able to give the participants a reality check by advising youths to get away from complacency and be solution providers.
She promised that the Ministry will critically look at the solutions provided by the Guest Speaker with a view to implementing suggestions that align with the vision of the present administration as Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is always willing to adapt new concepts and initiatives that are in tune with what obtains across the world.
“Based on what the Guest Speaker said, we will look at it critically. We will also look at where we are. We look at how to move forward to better the lives of our people, especially the youths”, Arobieke stated.
While alluding to the fact that the Lagos State Government is actually faring better above most States across the country in the area of technology, the Guest Speaker, who is the MD/CEO of New Horizon Solutions Nigeria Limited, Tim Akano, emphasised that the dynamic nature of technology which keeps changing every time makes it compelling for government to pay more attention to how technology evolves.
He expressed the hope that Lagos State, in the next five years, can actually be the third biggest economy in Africa or in the next three years if government embrace ‘Business Process Outsourcing’.
