The government of Lagos state lays out a plan to reduce poverty by 2027

The number of Nigerians living in poverty stands at over 133 million, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced in its ‘Nigeria Multidimensional Poverty Index’ released in November 2022. It said the figure represents 63 percent of the nation’s population.

According to the report, over half of the people who are poor cook with dung, wood or charcoal, rather than cleaner energy. It said high deprivations are also apparent in sanitation, time to healthcare, food insecurity and housing. The report noted that multidimensional poverty is higher in rural areas, where 72 per cent of people are poor, compared to 42 per cent of people in urban areas. Also, according to Nigerian Poverty Statistics, the poverty rate in Lagos is 8.5 per cent, about 1, 263, 279 living in extreme poverty.

Lagos is faced with the issues of increasing population with estimated 22 million people. Lagos State Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Akinyemi Bankole Ajigbotafe, believes that wealth creation, employment opportunities and human capacity development are the major foundations upon which sustainable development can be achieved. Sequel to his appointment as Commissioner, he was the Special Adviser (Non-cabinet) to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Community Development. In this interview with Olasunkanmi Akoni, Ajigbotafe speaks on his achievements and focus in the next three years. Excerpts:

Plans of the Ministry and target of ‘Empower Lagos’ project
When I came into the Ministry, I had to see how we could transform it and take it to the next level. In the past, the Ministry had done a lot work in the areas of wealth creation and employment and we wanted to build on what had been done in the past and do even better. Since eight years ago when this Ministry was created, a lot has been done. So, I thought we had to do something radically transformative and sustainable. We had to do better. So I came up with an agenda that will have long term impact on the people of Lagos State. We came up with the concept of ‘Empower Lagos’ that we hope will last three years or more and we are focusing on three categories for wealth creation and employment. The first category is the post-NYSC, the second one is the Artisans Category while the third one is the Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs.

The post-NYSC is focused on people who desire white collar jobs. The question is, how do we secure jobs for them? We are going to put them through a process of training, mentorship and certification in partnership with the private sector. We are already in partnership with many corporate entities to achieve this. We believe that through our process of mentorship, many of them will secure profitable engagements with corporate entities. Empower Lagos Project is a plan that will have ripple and multiplier effects on our people in the next two to three years.

Once you are out of school and you have finished your NYSC, we will take you up and make you somebody. Our aim is to target 10, 000 people through the initiative, and out of the 10, 000, we are picking 2,000 for the post-NYSC program, 5, 000 for the Artisans program and 3, 000 for the SMEs. Under the SME program, we will put people into training that will equip them for their enterprises and we will monitor the training program and ensure its sustainability.

Train-the-trainers
We also have the train-the-trainers program in which we expect you to train others and those people you trained will also train other people and so on. That process of training-the-trainers will be running especially for the SME and, by the year 2027, we expect that the concept would have built about 500, 000 to a million people and lift them out of poverty into gainful employment.

We are going to train artisans too. You can learn plumbing, carpentry, whatever you wish to learn under our tutelage and we will empower you with the tools that you need. If we need more money to support the trainees, we will source for grants, partnerships or loans. The artisans will also be part of our train-the-trainers program. We expect them to train others, who will also train others and so on. These trainings will have ripple effects on the lives of our people.

We are also putting in place a mentorship program. Mentors will guide and nurture the trainees and keep an eye on them even after training. The Empower Lagos program is about empowerment, training and mentorship so that the individual can become a worthy ambassador of our Ministry, Lagos State and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. It is going to be a sustainable project. It’s not the one that we will train you and buy for you equipment that you will go and sell. No, we won’t allow you to do that because we will monitor your progress and achievements. But we cannot do this alone. We need support from the private sector, NGOs and international donors. We are also building hubs.

Hubs
We have the Leather Hub at Matori, Mushin, it’s about 80 per cent completed. We should be able to open it by February or March. We are also opening the ICT Hub, the Agro Hub, the Wood and Furniture Hub, and the Textile Hub where Adire, Ankara, among other local fabrics, will be exhibited, where people can buy and sell what they produce.

By the time the administration of Sanwo-Olu ends, Lagosians would know that they had an exceptional governor. Our target is that by the year 2027, we would have lifted four million people out of poverty.

This will have great impact on the people of Lagos. By the time the next administration comes in, the system would have been established and proven. They only need to continue to run it.

Private partnership initiatives
We have spoken to quite a number of companies. Many of them have come in here for meetings. That is what we call corporate social responsibility. We tell them that this is an opportunity for them to perform that. We already have KPMG partnering us and we have continued to speak to many others. Many of them will take some of the trainees in employment after they have been certified by us and have undergone our program. Our Ministry is very wide and there is no sector we cannot work in. We have more than 50 sectors that we can look into, tap into, to create wealth and lift people out of poverty. We are exploring that. We are open to new ideas, partnerships and collaborations.

Lagos parades young people who are passionate about the arts, music, drama, visual arts and technology. This can be seen in the rise of Afrobeats and Nollywood. What is your Ministry doing to key into these sectors?
We have met with Gbagidi Academy and have visited the studio. The operator actually bought a whole building. I think he started with Davido. He has equipped the house with all sorts of facilities for drama, film and music production and we are working together. We are looking at empowering people in the area of creative arts and entertainment. We are going to sign MoU. This will also come with certifications too. We are looking at partnering other organizations too. Our aim is durable partnership that can help people to break through in the entertainment world. What we can do is to empower beneficiaries in the area of creative endeavour they are gifted in. Hopefully, by the time we sell this idea to other corporate entities, they will buy into it and support us. So, whether it is skit making, music or drama you are good at, we can support you. In the area of ICT, we are going to be working with the Ministry of Science and Tech. We are also working with the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. They have trained over 10, 000 women in sewing and many other trades. We are working with them to further push our aims and objectives because they are interwoven.

Criteria
When we talk about lifting four million people out of poverty by 2027, we are talking about people who are residents of Lagos. It does not matter who you are or what tribe you belong to. You need to have been living in Lagos. You need to have your Lagos State Resident Registration Agency, LASRRA, identity card; you need to have your National Identity Number, NIN, as well. There must be ample proof that you are resident in Lagos. We are creating a website where people can go and apply. We are also creating an App for the project. By January 16, we are going to officially unveil Empower Lagos project.

What is the probability that this project will be sustained beyond the current administration?
We are doing everything possible to put in place a very solid structure, so that it becomes very easy for the next administration to key into it. It is a blueprint. What we are building is expected to be able to run itself with good administration. When we train you, you train others, and the others train others as well, and so on. Take the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, for example, our people will be able to maximize that opportunity through Empower Lagos. The trainees are going to sign MOU with us, so that it is binding. We also expect them to come up with proposals that can be financed by our partners. The program will run for 36 months and we have a database of applicants already. I can tell you for a fact we have so many CVs. I am sure that by the time we launch our website for the program, applicants will almost shut down this Ministry; so getting across to our people is settled already. Within the space of time that I took office, we have received over 5,000 applications, so you can imagine what will happen if we put out an announcement.

How is Lagos tackling JAPA syndrome?
Personally, I am against JAPA because, take the UK for example, they know what they are doing. They target our medical doctors because they get them so cheaply.