The Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Dr. (Mrs.) Lola Akande has commended Lagos State University (LASU) for equipping students with entrepreneurship skills.
Akande stated this when she received a delegation from the Directorate of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship, LASU, who paid a courtesy visit to the Ministry at Alausa, Ikeja on Tuesday.
The Commissioner, who was represented by the Director, Department of Commerce, Mrs. Helen Adesina, expressed the intention of the Ministry to collaborate with the Directorate, acknowledging that the laudable initiative of offering entrepreneurship courses to students in the University before graduating will have a life-long impact on them.
Her words: “I want to implore you to continue to inculcate value-driven training in the students, which will hone their entrepreneurial skills and will be useful to them after graduating from the University”.
She pledged the support of the Ministry to help link the young entrepreneurs with various Business Membership Organisations (BMOs) for relevant networking and government agencies such as the Lagos Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) to fund their start-up businesses, while also advising that they should be prepared to form cooperative societies, which will make it easier for them to access low-interest funds.
“At the forthcoming International Trade Fair scheduled to hold from Friday, 4th to Sunday, 13th November, 2022, we will be willing to accommodate the students at the Lagos State Pavilion during the Fair to showcase their products”, she declared.
Also speaking, the Deputy Director of Commerce in the Ministry, Mrs. Omolabake Bashirudeen, commended the efforts of the Directorate, suggesting that the State Government, through the Ministry, can help to train graduate students on how to boost their businesses.
Bashirudeen reiterated that the Ministry is willing to support the Directorate in further training young entrepreneurs, granting them access to the Fashion Hub of the Ministry, linking them with certification agencies and allowing them to network with MSMEs in the Ministry.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, who is the Assistant Director, of the Directorate of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship, LASU, Dr. Francis Dansu, explained that they are working in line with the directives of the National Universities Commission (NUC) to ensure that students offer entrepreneurship courses in schools.
“On behalf of the Directorate, I seek the State Government’s support, through the Ministry, towards the creation of a Creative Hub at the Lagos State University, with all the necessary equipment, to help our students develop and showcase their skills”, he appealed.
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