LAGOS, Nigeria – Lagos State Government said on Thursday that the State Industrial Leather Hub in Matori, Mushin, will be ready for inauguration by June 2024, as it had reached 90 per cent completion, with a total sum of N4bn so far spent on the project.
The State Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mr. Akinyemi Ajigbotafe, made the disclosure in Alausa, Ikeja at a news briefing on the activities of his ministry in the last one year, saying that the figure covered construction and imported machinery to ensure the facility meets international standards.
This was just as the Commissioner also revealed that the ministry under the Empower Lagos Initiative had begun a three-month training of 10,000 post-NYSC graduates to make them employers of labour, adding that 5,000 artisans would also go through a similar training to improve their craft.
“Our efforts will not be spared as we continue to pursue and sustain steadfastly our commitments towards Wealth Creation and Employment as well as ensuring the delivery of dividends of democracy,” Ajigbotafe said.
On Micro, Small and Medium Entreprises (MSMEs) in the state, the commissioner stated that about N859million was in 2023 to 1271 beneficiaries, saying that the support helped these businesses to grow creating a total of 51,822 direct and indirect jobs in Lagos.
Besides, he said that under the Lagos Cares Initiative about 1425 MSMEs were supported with a sum of N358million, while about N1.346bn were disbursed to 11,386 households in 12 local councils across the state as part of efforts to improve livelihood condition of beneficiaries.
He listed some of the initiatives embarked on by the Ministry of Wealth Creation, saying that they include: Five weeks entrepreneurship skills acquisition programmes organized for persons with disabilities, Empower Lagos initiative which reached out to private sectors for sponsorship of youth training in more skills acquisition and Job placements in manufacturing industries, among others.
Speaking on loans and grants given by the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), the Acting Executive Secretary of the Fund, Mrs. Feyisara Alayande, disclosed that the Fund had so far recorded 82 percent repayment of loans, saying that officials had been following up on debtors to see how their business were fairing.
Alayande, however, appealed to beneficiaries to repay loans and avoid the embarrassment of being blacklisted by the Credit Bureau, saying that the loans given by the Trust Fund should not be seen as a largesse or a windfall from the government.
