Speeches

Graduation Ceremony Of Year 2007/2008 Vocational And Skills Acquisition Centres

Oct 10, 2008 - I feel very proud to be here today as Governor of Lagos State to share the fulfillment of yet another electoral promise to you.

Our Government exists for people. We are determined to ensure that every resident of the State benefit from the policies and programmes of government in our renewed efforts to build the Lagos of our dream. Democracy is about people and the government is poised to create and deliver its dividends to the people.

We are your government and this is why you are our first priority. People are the greatest asset that we have. They are the greatest infrastructure that we build upon.

As we build roads, bridges, jetties and bus routes, we are conscious that we build them for the people and that is why we are more concerned and more determined to make critical investment in education and healthcare to enlighten our people and keep them free from disease and sickness. In this way, we are assured that the brighter and rewarding future is secured through an educated and healthy population.

We are convinced that large scale entrepreneurship and jobs are the twin battlefronts through which we can devastatingly deal with poverty and hunger. Only those who have skills will get jobs and only those that are educated can acquire skills.

This is why it gives me immeasurable pleasure to be here at the graduation of 4,028 young people who are graduands beneficiaries of our skills acquisition and vocational training centers across the State.

As the various projects embarked upon by us in the last year or thereabouts are progressing to various stages of conclusion, this project of skill development has progressed safely to conclusion and maturity producing 4028 graduates under the careful and caring management of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation under the leadership of Mrs. Adejoke Orelope Adefulire, the Honourable Commissioner.

Today, each of the 4028 graduands will automatically become self dependent and self supporting to start their individual businesses as they will also be benefiting from start up business capital under the Lagos State Micro-Credit Scheme.

Barely two weeks ago today, the first set of 5,000 beneficiaries received cheques of a gross total of N850 million as the first tranche of our micro-credit funding project, which made them not only self employed and self dependent, we also simultaneously made them employers of labour who would be able to put food on other peoples table by providing jobs.

We are therefore, not only creating skilled and healthy graduands, we are graduating self dependent, self employed people, who are also employers of labour.

I am bold to say that in the face of present challenges in global economies, we are creating jobs and fighting hunger in Lagos and Nigeria with every programme of this government. For instance, we have created jobs in a most unprecedented manner through road constructions, beautification and tree planting projects, PSP refuse managers, BRT Corporate Cab Ventures, LMDGP Slum Clearance, town planning and urban development regulation schemes. Indeed, the Lagos economy is experiencing a great leap.

For our younger compatriots, we are giving you an opportunity we did not have. We were trained to study and look for jobs. We recognize today how much the world has changed, therefore we are determined to prepare you for the future by training you to create jobs for yourselves and others rather than wait for jobs to be created.

I congratulate our young graduates and entrepreneurs, and dedicate this day to the glory of God as I wish them the very best of successes beyond their imaginations in all their undertakings.

Eko o ni baje o!

Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN)
Governor of Lagos State