Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu has said that the state is ready to collaborate with the Federal House of Representatives Committee on Youth Development in the passage of necessary legislation and initiatives that will enhance youths development in the country.
Speaking through the Deputy Governor, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat while receiving the Members of the Federal House of Representative Committee on Youth Development led by the Chairman, Hon. Martin Esin, on a courtesy visit, in Alausa Ikeja, on Friday, the Governor stated that Lagos is very open to collaboration with any relevant bodies, in view of different initiatives and ideas within the system that it would like to share with the federal government as it is essential for the nation to keep deliberating on the youths’ demography.
Sanwo-Olu noted that owing to the significant position the youths occupy in the state, his administration has put in place numerous initiatives to train the youths on different skills and ensure that they are adequately empowered.
“The youth demography is very important and it is upon this that our government has initiated a lot of programmes targeted at our youths development, because we have realized that if we don’t get it right with our youths, we all will be in serious trouble, if not now, but in the future”, he said.
The governor added the Lagos deliberately included the “PLUS” which is social inclusion and youth empowerment in its THEMES agenda because it found out that the government must focus on the youth and provide more recreational centers where they can also meet and discuss.
He further noted that his administration is considering a partnership with the NYSC to review the duration of the orientation programme to accommodate more training for the youths on innovations. This is to enable them benefit from the innovation grants organised by the state government through Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council (LASRIC).
Speaking further, Sanwo-Olu disclosed that the state government is committed to providing an adequate and permanent site for NYSC camp in the state. He stated that the state government recognized that the existing camp is not adequate due to the continuous increment in the numbers of corpers seeking redeployment to the state and is assiduously working on this.
The Governor therefore commended the committee on the initiative of establishing a National Council on Youth which he said, will provide a platform for different states in the country to share their experiences, challenges and collectively proffer solutions to these challenges and move the youths and nation forward.
While bemoaning the challenges of homelessness and drugs among youths in the state, the governor disclosed that the state government is coming up with local legislation on different issues, among which is that any property where drugs are being sold to children will be destroyed.
Earlier in his address, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Youth Development, Hon. Martin Esin commended the Lagos State government for its continuous support to the youth in the state particularly on capacity building, skills development and agenda-building towards a ‘Greater Lagos’ that is rising.
He noted that what the youths of the country require now is skills development, opportunities and support from the government which Lagos State is taking a lead in, as the state have done a lot of interventions through various programmes including the timely payment of allowances and meals for NYSC members, among others.
Speaking further, he urged the state government to sustain that, saying “we know that the youth of this country represent over 60 per cent of the population which is why states governments must equip the youth with good skills and capacity building for a sustainable future”.
Hon. Esin stressed the need to activate a National Council for Youth Development that will serve as a platform which the Federal Ministry of Youth Development engages the state commissioners for youth Development for them to fix ideas and see how to take the youth to the next level, stressing that “as a collaborative government that you are, we want commissioner and same at the local government level to quickly align with that initiative so that we will be able to get input from the state level to the local level”.
According to him, “We at the National Parliament Committee on Youth Development are open to collaborating with the state governments on empowering the youth and creating an enabling environment for them to strive”.
