By Steve Agbota
In order to address employability and employment challenges facing today’s graduates, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has supported Lagos State government on ‘Ready, Set, Work’ (RSW) employability and entrepreneurial training programme.
The programme will enable successful students get internship placements in high ranking corporate organisations. The RSW project is a complementary capacity building programme of the Lagos State government for final year students of tertiary institutions leveraging on available technology, private sector driven and facilitated curriculum to equip participants so as to be fit for the world of work and therefore able to create jobs for themselves or gain easy access to gainful employment after graduation.
The programme, which commenced in June 2016, drilled about 500 final year students from Lagos State University (LASU), Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) and Lagos State College of Health Technology (LASCOHET), in a rigorous curriculum in the employability and entrepreneurship track for 13 weeks and 422 participants graduated during the course of the programme.
Addressing newsmen at the graduation ceremony of the Pioneer of Class 2016 of RSW in Lagos, Head, Strategies and Human Resources, FCMB, Felicia Obozuwa, said the partnership with Lagos State on RSW was part of the bank’s vision to empower young graduates and develop their employability skills.
She stated that, “FCMB is very proud to partner with Lagos State government on RSW and we are also proud to be taking some of the interns for the RSW programme for six months, which has enabled them to acquire some experiences and necessary skills to make them successful in their chosen careers.
“We like to commend the Lagos State government headed by Governor Akinwumi Ambode for this very good initiative that will see a lot of graduates in Lagos State getting a head start in careers in the state.
“We hope other states will take a cue from this initiative so that the whole country can see that our graduates are empowered with skills to make them employable.”
At the ceremony, out of 422 graduating students, 80 were given apprenticeship slots at PWC, GTB, Access Bank, FCMB and Etisalat. Through N15.5 million grant recently approved by Governor Ambode, the first place winner, ‘Biogas Production’ received N1 million in seed funding; the team will also receive N100,000 for the next six months as working capital while Lagos State government also gave ‘Biogas Production’ additional N5 million and the 2nd place winner, ‘Onebox’ received N500,000. It will also receive N100,000 for the next six months as working capital and the 3rd place winner, ‘Artisan on Campus’ received N250,000 and will also receive N100,000 for the next six months as working capital.