The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has said that enterprise education will reduce graduate unemployment and enhance the nation’s search for economic development.
He spoke at the first Enterprise Day organised by the Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board in Lagos, where stakeholders in the education sector discussed issues that border on the promotion of technical and vocational education.
According to him, the country’s future lies in the building of a productive economy where more Nigerians would create things with their hands rather than depend on importation.
He said that the Lagos State Enterprise Day was set aside to address the issues of entrepreneurship development among technical college students by exposing them to entrepreneurs in the private sector through interaction and monitoring sessions.
These sessions, he said, were aimed at inculcating in them the experiences of building up sustainable business after graduation.
Fashola told the gathering, which included students and graduates of technical colleges and skill acquisition centres in the state, entrepreneurs and members of the Organised Private Sector, that the days of white-collar jobs were over.
He called on the youths and employers of labour to look for alternative ways of building a productive economy.
“Nigeria was essentially a trading economy. The companies were not owned by Nigerians. Nigerians were merely employed in those companies who needed a large army of workers, storekeepers, accountants, gatekeepers, book-keepers, clerks, secretaries, and so on. All that has changed now.” he said.
He, therefore, advised the youths to set up their own businesses so that they could become successful entrepreneurs later in life.
“Of course, there are issues of good and bad business models. You can choose to run your business by cutting corners to make quick money. Such a business does not last. Or you can choose to run it prudently and honestly, paying your tax and fulfilling all the obligations required of such business and you can be sure to build a lasting and successful business,” the governor said.
Fashola noted that all the ethics required in building a successful business had been embedded in the students’ business enterprise training.
