The Lagos State Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment has graduated a new cohort of 500 young professionals from its Technical, Vocational and Educational Training (TVET) program. The initiative is part of a state-wide strategy to curb unemployment, build technical capacity, and expand retail economic opportunities for youth across local government areas.
The graduation ceremony, themed “Empowering the Youths: From Knowledge to Income,” marked the formal completion of a rigorous six-week vocational and entrepreneurship training cycle that focused heavily on immediate practical skills acquisition, financial literacy, and early-stage business management to prepare participants for sustainable self-employment.
To maximize market relevance, the state structured the training across five high-demand technical and creative sectors, covering computer and phone repairs, photography and videography, digital graphic design, cosmetology, and mixology. Speaking at the graduation event, the Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Akinyemi Ajigbotafe, emphasized that the initiative reflects the government’s broader economic master plan to equip the rising generation with demand-driven skills capable of generating sustainable income streams in a rapidly changing economy. He noted that the cohort underwent intensive hands-on learning supervised directly by industry professionals, and he urged the graduates to shift their mindsets from being traditional job seekers to becoming future employers and industrial innovators within their host communities.
To ensure a seamless transition from classroom learning to commercial market operations, the state government provided all 500 beneficiaries with specialized, industry-specific start-up kits tailored to their respective fields of study. Beyond these physical tools, the state is also opening up critical financial channels to assist with early-stage business growth. Addressing the graduates on long-term enterprise sustainability, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Lolade Aina, disclosed that the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) has positioned dedicated funding pipelines and corporate support services specifically to help the beneficiaries scale their new micro-enterprises.
Aina announced that a customized ₦250,000 start-up loan facility has been opened to support the graduates. To maintain transparency and regulatory compliance, the ministry has outlined strict documentation requirements for applicants seeking to draw down from the credit facility. Prospective borrowers must present their official TVET training certificate, a valid Lagos State Residents Registration Agency identification card, a registered Tax Identification Number, and a valid government-issued means of identification such as an international passport or national identity card.
The graduation ceremony concluded with live exhibitions of technical projects and consumer products developed by the trainees during the six-week cycle, signaling the immediate entry of 500 new skill-driven enterprises into the Lagos State commercial ecosystem.
