Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said that the state will get 20,000 slots out of 774,000 jobs for Nigerians across all the Local Government Areas in the country being offered by the Federal Government through its Extended Special Public Works (SPW) Programme.
The programme is being implemented through the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in collaboration with state governments and other relevant stakeholders.
Sanwo-Olu disclosed this at the official flag-off of the programme in the Federal Government, held at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa-Ikeja, even as he called for increased allocation to the state, citing increasing population, attraction of Lagos, among others to all Nigerians with every village or town having its representative living in the state.
“While we appreciate the efforts of the Federal Government through this initiative, we would like to appeal for an increase in the allocation for Lagos State in consideration of the increasing population that must be catered for,” he said.
The governor, who spoke through his deputy, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, while noting that the initiative was taking off at the right time when governments at all level needed to do everything possible to stem the tide of rising unemployment and also cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the people, stated that it would also complement the state government’s efforts geared toward providing support and creating opportunities for young people to be productively engaged.“Our administration and indeed the Lagos State government has always been a stakeholder and partner of the Federal Government in the quest to achieve the growth and development of our economy for the benefit of our people. (Tribune)