The Director, Pharmaceutical band Food Services, Kwara State Ministry of Health, Ilorin, Mrs. Risikat Bolanle Lawal has advised Nigerian youth to embrace entrepreneurship as an alternative to white collar job.
Pharmacist Bolanle Lawal gave the advice at the weekend during the graduation ceremony, end of Year party and award giving ceremony at FAK Fashion Center, Irewolede Housing Estate, Ilorin.
According to her, ” there is an age limit for the government job and there is extent one can go in the government services. But when you learn a particular vocational skill in addition to the government job, I will go along way in fetching you extra income”.
Bolanle affirmed that the only antidote to current country lingering poverty, starvation and unemployment is entrepreneurship pointing out that the earlier we accept this reality the better for us as a people.
The Director, who was a special guest of honour at the event, also observed that the available government jobs are inadequate to the numbers of graduates the Nigerian tertiary institutions are producing annually.
She said, “the meager salaries being paid by the government and other employers of labour are too small for the people to sustain themselves and their families because of the global economic recession and the high cost of living in the country.
“There is a need for Nigeria to diversify her economy since the oil money we all enjoyed in the past to execute basic amenities and improve our economy is no longer forthcoming”
Mrs. Lawal thanked the Chief Executive Officer of the center and Managing Director, Mrs. Fatimah Omotayo Aliu for assisting the government in reducing unemployment and hardship among the youth in the society.
She also congratulated the new set of graduands and encouraged them to remain focus and determined in their vocational skill.
She also enjoyed Nigerian parents to always train their children in the way of God so as to have a peaceful, united and prosperous nation
Earlier, in her opening remark, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of FAK Fashion Center, Mrs. Fatimah Omotayo Lawal, explained that the event was organised to appreciate the staff and trainees of the center and customers for their patronage.
Mrs. Fatimah Omotayo Aliu, mentioned that the center has partnered with government, Non Governmental organizations and private individuals in the area of providing training and rendering services to the people.
She said the certificate presented to the various graduands is widely recognised and acceptable anywhere in the world, assuring that the products of the center are equipped with versed knowledge and can be engaged by any fashion outfit or given direct work because of the level of training they have acquired in FAK Fashion Center.
She said, “we have received various recommendations from the parents and guardians of our trainees because they have proved to them the quality of the service that had received here at FAK Fashion Center .”
Mrs. Aliu thanked her staff for their support and sense of understanding, and urged the trainees to always spend their time profitably, adding that “Fashion job is a work that educated people can indulge in”.
At the occasion, working tools , cash sum of money, and other consolation prizes were donated by FAK Fashion Center to outstanding staff and trainees to encourage and spur them to continue to keep the flag of the center flying.
The event was well attended by captains of Industries, parents of the trainees, customers, friends, and families of the FAK Fashion Center among others.
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