We’ll continue to provide for youths opportunities to gain skills, knowledge – Ambode

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has said his administration will continue to provide youths in the state the needed opportunities to gain skills, knowledge and information that will set them on the path to success.

Ambode spoke at the 6th Lagos State University Students Union, LASUSU Leadership Conference, held at LASUTH, in Ikeja at the weekend.

Speaking on the topic “Preparedness for Leadership: A Prerequisite for the Nigerian Youth,” Ambode said his administration had provided opportunities for youths to build their future through the Ready.Set.Work programme where over 20,000 tertiary students had benefited from the programme till date.

The governor, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Education, Obafela Bank-Olemoh, said the state government had been deliberate about policies and initiatives focused on youths, adding that the CodeLagos initiative was being implemented to equip one million Lagos residents with knowledge of coding, which would position participants for local and global opportunities.

“Recently, an international observer described CodeLagos as the largest edtech initiative in Africa and you are privileged to be part of history in the making. Lagos is the only state in Nigeria where these types of initiatives are currently running and this is a testament to the commitment of this administration to prepare our youths to be global competitors,” he said.

Ambode emphasised that leadership was not assumed mistakenly and not for weak people, saying that it was a privilege that required discipline and sacrifice, while leadership was also a service, adding that leadership is hard work and that there is no leadership without responsibility.

According to the governor, “preparation for leadership also involves investing in yourself so you can be a valuable contributor to your community.”

He said government would continue to invest in the state’s tertiary institutions with the ultimate aim of producing students who would excel in various spheres of life, stressing that LASU was currently the only state-owned university that produced dental surgeons in Nigeria.

“Students of LASU, I charge you today-go forward and create new paths, solving big problems, and leave your mark on history,” Ambode said.

Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University, LASU, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, said in the last two years since he took over the affairs of the school, students had been involved in governing its affairs.

“You don’t shape them in their absence. What we are having today is the initiative of our students. It has been a remarkable turnaround,” he said.