We want 7% drop in unemployment rate after N10bn investment – Sanwo-Olu
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu says he expects to see a 6.7% drop in unemployment in the state, owing to the investments his administration has made.
Sanwo-Olu who was speaking at the Lagos Investment Summit with the theme ”Sustainable Job Creation Strategies: Collective Action and Prosperity for All” in Victoria Island on Thursday, said that the state had invested over N10bn in the last three years on the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, LSETF, to boost employment.
”We want to see about a 6.7 per cent drop on unemployment rate. We also want to make Lagos the most impressive job creation centre nationwide.
”We will try and double whatever it is that we are looking at, so we want to challenge you with a lot more. We believe you have the capacity, because you have demonstrated this in the last four years that given the opportunity, you can double these numbers.
”It is only by scaling those numbers that we can reduce the percentage of unemployment that we are seeing.
”We will give you the grants that you need, we will give the funding that you need to ensure that you can double it up, you can create the eco-space and the ability for you to be able to touch a lot more people quicker, faster and deeper,” Sanwo-Olu said.
Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Sam Egube, said that the unemployment rate in the state was fueled by urban migration from other states and other nations for opportunities, hope and dreams of a better life.
”A high percentage of which come with only their bags and bodies, unskilled and without a job and many without a proper place to stay.
”It is for this reason and the general state of the national and global economy that the unemployment rate in the state stands at 37.3 per cent, with youth unemployment at about 42.5 per cent.
”Resolving these challenges on a sustainable basis require deep thinking, collaboration, and consultation with stakeholders to evolve ideas, policies, and initiatives, which when acted upon, should see us through,” Egube said.
The Board Chairperson, LSETF, Mrs Bola Adesola said that the surge in crime and the resultant insecurity challenges due to the lack of jobs and gainful engagement of the youths, had revealed that collective prosperity as a state and a nation depended on how sustainably jobs could be created.
