Lagos Moves to Reduce Unemployment Rate by Placing 4,000 Youths on N40,000 Internship

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The Lagos State government has selected 4,000 unemployed graduates for an internship program with different companies in the state. The program is to be executed in phases, starting with the first 1,000 candidates who scored above 60% in an employability assessment test.

The graduates will be placed on an internship salary of N40,000 for a period of 6 months. Within that time frame, they will learn skills from the organization that they are paired with as well as contribute to its growth.

This effort will go a long way in reducing the unemployment rate in the state. Towards the end of 2020, the unemployment situation in Nigeria became worse. The National Bureau of Statistics, in its 2020 report, highlighted that the unemployment rate rose to 33.3% in Q4 from 27.1% in Q2.

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A further breakdown of the report shows that people aged 15 years to 34 years old form the largest number in the unemployed bracket. These young people make up 42.5% of all the unemployed people in the country.

Lagos state has the lowest unemployment rate among every state. Statista pegs its percentage as 37.14% using the national methodology which defines an unemployed person as one who has not worked at all or works for less than 20 hours a week.

Ensuring that young people are gainfully employed is a major goal because of its many advantages. Not only does it improve the quality of living of the state, but it also reduces the number of young persons who will get drawn into thuggery and other vices.

After the first 1,000 applicants have been placed with companies, the next batch of successful candidates will also be fixed with companies and placed on the N40,000 internship payroll.

Before being selected for the internship program, the candidates applied through an online portal that requires creating an account using basic contact details as well as the LASRRA number.

According to the Lagos State Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mrs Yetunde Arobieke, about 1,932 companies indicated an interest in onboarding the interns after their training.

Lagos Moves to Reduce Unemployment, Places 4,000 Youths on N40k Internships
Yetunde Arobieke (Center)

Out of the 51,514 graduates that applied, 4,736 applicants attempted the Online Assessment Test while only 4,000 of them are targeted for the program.

After the accepted graduates complete the 6-months internship program, their details will be entered into the State’s database of groomed talents. From this database, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and other companies can select people and offer employment opportunities to them.

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