Business
Ambode Recommits To Youth Dev
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has pledged commitment to capacity building, entrepreneurship, empowerment and sustainable youth development to reduce unemployment in the state.
Ambode, who was represented by his deputy, Dr Idiat Adebule made the pledge at the graduation of second batch of students who participated in the Lagos State ‘Ready, Set Work’ initiative.
He said that the future of the state was in the hands of the youth who constituted a significant portion of the population.
‘‘This administration took into cognizance the looming army of unemployed youths, graduates and potential graduates who have become disillusioned by the harsh economic realities of the time, as a potential recipe for disaster.
‘‘To tackle this headlong, the ‘Ready, Set, Work’ initiative was established as an employability and entrepreneurship programme, aimed at preparing final year students for immediate entry into the workforce as employees and employers of labour.
‘‘The initiative will equip them with market-aligned knowledge, soft skills, business tools and a mindset reorientation to the world of work.
‘‘It is a fact that a university degree shows people what you have done; beyond graduation, it is on you to show what you can do,’’ he said.
The governor reiterated his administration’s resolve to provide support for graduates to achieve their entrepreneurial potentials to enable them to contribute their quotas to the state’s social- economic development.
‘‘We would put more efforts in boosting the potential of the initiative to develop our youths to enhance human capacity that will grow the economy of our state to the third largest in Africa by year 2020,” Ambode added.
Speaking on behalf of the heads of institutions, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagboun, Vice-Chancellor, Lagos State University said that there was need for the nation’s higher institutions to go beyond training job seekers to train job creators.
Fagboun expressed the hope that the ‘Ready, Set, Work’ initiative would drive productive employment for sustainable growth and development.
In his remarks, Mr Obafela Bank-Olemoh, Special Adviser to Governor Ambode on Education, said that the initiative was in government’s response to the private sector complaints about poor quality of Nigerian graduates.
Bank-Olemoh said that the state government decided to raise the standard of Nigerian graduates through the initiative so that they could make a difference and compete effectively with their peers globally.
According to him, Nigeria has the intellect, capacity and youths to boost its productivity and improve the economy.
The Tide source reports that no fewer than 12,000 final year students from the state’s six higher institutions of learning enrolled for the 13-week entrepreneurship and employability training.
Out of the 12, 000 students, 1,500 were selected and placed on internship in over 70 organisations for the next six months with monthly allowances.
The 2017 edition of ‘Ready, Set, Work’ edition which commenced in July ended in September.
Credit to Nigeria’s private sector rose to N83.26 trillion in June 2026 from N81.04 trillion in May, signifying a positive balance of N2.22 trillion month-on-month.
Year-on-year, the figure represents a nine per cent increase compared with the N76.13 trillion recorded in June 2025. The latest figures come as the CBN continues to balance efforts to control inflation with the need to support economic growth and expand credit to businesses.
The CBN data shows that credit to Nigeria’s private sector increased by approximately 2.74 per cent month-on-month between May and June 2026. Also, the CBN data noted that credit to the government fell slightly to N40.03 trillion from N40.38 trillion. Other assets, net, dropped to N10.76 trillion from N12.63 trillion.
The credit surge signifies sustained growth in lending to businesses and other private-sector borrowers during the month. The rise in private sector credit was recorded alongside an increase in net domestic credit, despite declines in credit to government and other assets.
Further analysis of the report says that compared with June 2025, private sector credit rose by about N7.13 trillion yea-on-year but net domestic credit increased by approximately N1.87 trillion during the month.
The CBN’s relatively tight monetary policy stance notwithstanding, more banks still loaded funds to the private sector within the period. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held its 306th meeting on July 20 and 21.
The Committee reviewed recent developments in the global and domestic economies, assessed emerging risks to the outlook and considered their implications for monetary policy and retained all rates.
The Committee decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent; the Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50/-450 basis points and retain the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 45.00 per cent, Merchant Banks at 16.00 per cent, and non-TSA public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent.
The MPC decision means that credit extension in the private sector will likely continue to rise because of rising confidence in the sector and calls by stakeholders for banks to invest in the private scetor instead of government securities.
