The Deputy Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Damilola Sonayon-James, has urged young Nigerians to take advantage of skills acquisition programmes and position themselves to benefit from emerging opportunities in the economy.
Sonayon-James spoke on Friday at the flag-off ceremony of the Federal Ministry of Education’s Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS-TVET) programme for accredited Training Service Providers in Lagos State.
The programme, supported by the World Bank, is designed to equip young Nigerians with relevant technical and vocational skills to improve employability, entrepreneurship and self-reliance. A similar Lagos flag-off earlier in 2026 involved accredited Training Service Providers across different vocational fields.
Representing the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, at the event, Sonayon-James said the gathering provided an opportunity to reinforce the importance of skills development and youth empowerment.
She spoke about the need for young people to take responsibility for their personal development and actively seek opportunities that could improve their prospects.
According to her, “It is not enough to say you are job searching. You need to position yourself to enjoy the dividends of democracy.”
She also stressed the importance of collaboration between government, employers, recruitment agencies and other stakeholders in tackling graduate unemployment.
Sonayon-James said she regularly engages with human resources professionals and recruitment agencies to brainstorm on better solutions to reduce graduate unemployment in Lagos State.
She further described good governance as a two-way process involving both the people and government, stressing the need for citizens to also play their part.
“Good governance is a two-way. It is about the people and the government.”
She said the government must continue to scale up successful initiatives while making deliberate use of data and intelligence in designing programmes that respond to the needs of young people.
“We are deliberate, using data and intelligence because we are forward thinkers,” she said, adding that attention must also be given to emerging fields that would shape the future workforce, including artificial intelligence, robotics and cybersecurity.
Sonayon-James encouraged the beneficiaries of the programme to remain focused and concentrate on acquiring the skills for which they were enrolled rather than viewing the initiative merely as an avenue for financial support.
She said her experience had shown her the importance of initiatives that empower young people with relevant skills and help prepare them for the labour market.
The deputy governorship candidate also called for greater collaboration among stakeholders to ensure that graduates and beneficiaries of skills-acquisition programmes are equipped with competencies that employers require.
At the end of her inspection of the training facilities, Sonayon-James donated N1 million to support the initiative, according to details from the event.
With Sonayon-James at the event was the Deputy Director-General of the PBAT-KOH Electoral Campaign Council, Hon. Rasaq Olusola Ajala.
The IDEAS-TVET programme is being implemented by the Federal Ministry of Education with World Bank support and is aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s technical and vocational skills ecosystem, with emphasis on practical skills, employability and entrepreneurship.
