By Josephine Ogundeji

As part of strategic moves to bridge the skill gap in the housing sector, the Lagos State Government has commenced the training artisans and craftsmen in the state. Disclosing this in a statement, the Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Housing, Kamar Olowoshago, noted that the state was facing unending population growth.

He said, “Roughly put the unending population growth at 3.63 per cent in 2023 from 3.44 per cent in 2020. This has made available decent homes to be inadequate. This particularly affects the low and medium-income earners.”

He noted that the skill acquisition programme which was tagged “Master Craftsman training  Programme” commenced on August 19, 2023,  was to enable residents mainly youths in the construction trades to update their skills and acquire other competencies that would make them more employable and improve their economic well-being.

The permanent secretary said the intensive training programme would be for six weeks.

He said, “It will be a weekend programme that will be centred on critical construction trades, such as electrical installation and maintenance works, painting and decorating, plumbing and pipe-fitting, carpentry and furniture making and masonry (block-laying and concreting).

“There will also be classes on connected areas such as customer relations, information and communication technology and health and safety. The training will be conducted by experts in the field, who will train and retrain participants based on current trends. Locations of the current training programme are at Ikotun in Alimosho local government and Ikorodu in Ikorodu Local Government.”

Olowoshago disclosed that each certified master craftsman with over 70 per cent attendance would receive certification from a notable professional institute, empowerment with modern tools of their trade, work gears and stipends by the state government.

He advised participants to prepare for comprehensive practical and theoretical sessions during the training, adding that the trainees would be fully insured during the training period in the unlikely incident of hazards or dangers during the practical sessions.

 The Programme Consultant, Razak Jaiyeola, noted that there would be classes on connected areas such as customer relations, information and communication technology and health and safety during the programme.

 Originally published at Punch Newspaper