— Deputy Governor seeks labour-market intelligence, skills alignment, stronger MSME support
By Kayode Olopade
Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, has called for the adoption of a data-driven approach to economic planning and employment generation, stressing that reliable information must be used to match residents with opportunities and ensure that public investments produce measurable wealth.
Hamzat made the call on Thursday at the 2026 Stakeholders’ Engagement Forum of the Lagos State Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment, held at the Marriott Hotel, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, with the theme, “Building an All-Inclusive Data-Driven Economy for Sustainable Wealth Creation.”
The Deputy Governor, who was represented at the event by the Special Adviser on Sustainable Development Goals, SDG, Mrs Ore Finnih,, said data should go beyond statistics to provide government with accurate information on the number of people entering the labour market, the skills required by employers, businesses’ financing needs and opportunities available across local government areas.
The Deputy Governor said youth development must be integrated into economic policy, rather than treated solely as a social intervention, while advocating greater access to quality education, employable skills, digital infrastructure, finance and mentorship.
He also emphasised the role of micro, small and medium enterprises in job creation, saying government alone could not create the employment opportunities required by Lagos’ growing population.
Hamzat urged stakeholders to measure the impact of empowerment programmes by determining how many beneficiaries secured jobs, increased their incomes, expanded their businesses or became employers themselves.
“Beneficiary to skill, employment, income, enterprise, job creation and wealth creation,” he said, describing the progression as the economic value chain that should guide government interventions.
He called for closer alignment between vocational training and labour-market requirements, particularly in emerging industrial corridors such as Lekki-Epe, and urged greater investment in artificial intelligence, data analytics, fintech, cybersecurity, cloud computing, digital commerce and creative technology.
The Deputy Governor also advocated the inclusion of women-owned businesses, persons with disabilities, informal-sector operators and vulnerable households in official economic data.
He proposed an integrated Data Compact for Inclusive Wealth Creation, bringing together government, businesses, labour-market information, skills, investment, education and community-level data to help residents identify training, employment, financing and market opportunities.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Hon. Akinyemi Ajigbotafe, said the state was strengthening collaboration with stakeholders to build an inclusive economy.
Ajigbotafe disclosed that the ministry had established job fairs across the five divisions of Lagos, trained 1,000 youths in photography, film production and content creation in 2026, and recorded more than 10,000 job seekers, with over 850 people recruited.
He also introduced the “Ibile Idea,” an economic intelligence framework designed to identify available skills, emerging job opportunities and skills gaps.
The Chief Executive Officer of Human Investment Group, Ms. Ajibola Ponnle, urged the government to transform artisans into recognised enterprises through registration, certification, digital identities, access to finance and globally recognised qualifications.
Ponnle, who spoke on “Artisan to Enterprise,” said vocational education deserved greater attention, urging the state to go beyond reskilling artisans to upskilling them to internationally recognised standards.
In her keynote presentation, Mrs. Svjetlana Dokic of GIZ highlighted the importance of real-time labour-market information in closing skills gaps, while the Chief Executive Officer of W-Holistic Business Solutions, Mrs. Lanre Oniyitan, called for stronger MSME support and access to reliable business data.
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