The Lagos State Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with GIZ Nigeria(Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) on skills development and sustainable economic growth.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the MoU which was signed by the Lagos state commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Sam Egube and Sabine Muller for GIZ, also includes vocational-technical training for youths.
NAN reports that GIZ Nigeria (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Federal Foreign Office.
It was gathered that GIZ Nigeria operates in the areas of sustainable economic development, technical vocational training, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Egube said that the aim of the partnership was to improve vocational education training for the youths in the state.
The commissioner said that technical education was very crucial because of the demographic nature in the country involving the youths and young people.
“In Lagos, we noticed that most of the technicians come from neighbouring countries such as Togo, Benin, Ghana and so on which is not good for a population of 20 million.
“We need to focus more on technical education training and systems and make it sustainable for the youths,” he said.
Egube added that the Lagos state government was very strategic and part of its vision is to become a megacity for Africa.
“One of the things we have decided to do in this administration is to pursue meaningful partnerships
“Historically, the Lagos state government always sees partnership from the perspective of seeing what the donors have to give but now we have changed the perspective.
“Now, we want to co-create with our partners and achieve the objectives together because it is for our own interest,” he said.
The Commissioner said that recently the governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu approved “Grant Coordinating Committee” to coordinate the grant activities in the state.
“It will help us to build a relationship with our partners and we are ready to go and meet different partners.
“Any state rise or fall with human resources and development because it is human resources that convert into productivity.
“I encourage every citizen to rise up and do what is necessary to lift the young people up,”Egube said.
Also, Dr Stefan Traumann, German Consul General said that this initiative would support many youths and small businesses going through this tough phase and help them build something sustainable.
Traumann said that Lagos state was well known for youths engagement, empowerment and sustainable growth.
“Majority of population in Lagos are young people and this partnership would be an opportunity for them to be trained on skills development.
“It is also a delight to see growth in projects, as we all know COVID-19 pandemic has really affected lives in Germany and Nigeria and all over the world.
“Apart from the fears of getting ill, there has been a strong financial impact on businesses and families.
“May this collaboration and partnership yield fruitful and successful progress,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sabine Müller, GIZ Director-General Africa said that their plan was to expand their portfolio from sustainable economic development to youth employment skills development and vocational-technical training,
Müller said that it was an excellent opportunity of strengthening and underlining the relationship with Lagos State government.
Ms. Moronke Azeez, Executive Secretary, Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education(LASTVEB) said that the partnership was very important to our agency because of the transformation with the government’s agenda.
Azeez said that the partnership had three focuses which include; dealing with institutional and human capacity development, developing our standards and skill developments partnerships.
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