LASG Urges 119 Graduates In Vocational Skills In Ikorodu To Do Something Extra In Offering Value

At the graduation ceremony organised by Lagos State Government through the Office of the Special Adviser on Education for 119 graduates in vocational skills in Igbo Oluwo Ikorodu, the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Special Adviser on Education Mr Waheed Kasali on behalf of the Special Adviser on Education Tokunbo Phillip Wahab and Lagos State government urged graduands to embrace ICT, do something extra, so their potential clients can see value in the services and goods they will be offering going forward.

Mr Waheed in an interview with pressmen at the event, said he came to the event with his team to celebrate the graduation ceremony of the trainees who excelled in different vocations at the vocational center in Igbo Oluwo Ikorodu. An avenue to award certificates of completion of program after successfully acquiring the necessary skills and knowledge that will take them to greater height in Lagos state particularly to be self employed.

“Within this theme, the government has provided a platform in education, i mean employment trust fund. Some of the graduands can assess this, display their skills, show their skills, bring proposals, they will be encouraged through sponsorship.

” They should know that when they are sponsored there will be return on investments, when they return their necessary loan, they will be given more.

“We have different platforms for the graduands such as ministry of wealth creation, ministry of youth development and every other agencies of government that will give them support so that their business can grow,  their business can triumph and they will be able to mitigate the challenges that will be faced even in the business”. He said.

When asked if the 9 months training was sufficient to have a full grasp of the skill needed to excel in the vocational training,  Waheed said there is further room for improvement.

“There is further room for improvement. We have provided a base for them where they can fully move on with their talent in life by moving further in their career”

“We are in the world of ICT, they should deploy social media, learn more on their your own, so they will be able to grow in their business .

“The vocational center has addressed the issue of youth restiveness, we have been able to manage effectively the case of youth unemployment.

” We want to urge the youth in the area to take advantage of this opportunity provided by Lagos state government”

The cordinator of Igbo-Oluwo Agency of mass training center, Mrs Mosunmola Adenike Otitoloju said the 119 trainees in male and female fashion designing, make over and gele tying, events decoration, soap and allied products have no excuse not to excel after the graduation, because they are often advised not to be lazy if they really want to eradicate poverty in their lives.

“The graduands have no excuse not to excel as they go into the world to practice the skills they have learnt. They had been empowered, it is now for them to go out and explore their skills.

“What we are doing here is poverty eradication, we do advise them not to be lazy, they should stand up and do something. We emphasize they should not underrate their days of little beginning”. She said

The graduands testify to the impacts of the training in their lives and thanked lagos state government for bringing the vocational center to their community.

Sandra Nwaigba, a graduand trained as a make over and gele tying from the vocational center urges are fellow graduands to leverage on the training to train other people in the community. She said the fact the we have started,  we should not stop, there is more we can gain if we continue.

” A very big thanks to Lagos state government for making it possible to learn the skills many of us don’t have the opportunity to pay outside. They made it free for all, they gave us opportunity to learn without stress, i want to say thank you for this opportunity” she said

Another graduands Abbas Mariam Oluwatoyin also appreciate lagos state government for the opportunity,  she enjoined lagos state government to provide more learning space and materials to make vocational learning seamless. 

“I look forward to our polytechnic at Etunrenren, we need to keep moving, keep growing”. I urge young people to take advantage of the opportunity to learn new skills instead of being idle.

One of the Instructor Mrs Busari, in her comment also thank lagos state for the laudable initiative and advised the graduands not to settle for less as this is just a stepping stone for them. She asked government to supply more materials to enhance their productivity as an instructor.

Exceptional graduands in the first and second position received awards of excellence performance in their specialised area of skill acquisition ditto their instructors.

Mrs Oluwakemi Kalesanwo, Director, Lagos State Agency for Mass Education, Mr Dele Obaba, Mrs Agada William, were amongst the dignitaries on the service table.