Sunday 9th June 2019, was the 45th birthday anniversary of Pharm (Mrs.) Uzamat Akinbile Yussuf And she took the opportunity to give an account of her stewardship as a Commissioner in Lagos. Read below, the full details of her speech at the event.
“Praise be to Allah, who has guided and protected me up to this moment. Never could I have found guidance, had it not
been for the guidance of Allah. And He is Allah, there is no god but Him. To Him be praised. From Him we have come and unto Him, we shall return.
It is a pleasure to welcome you all to my Stewardship Account as part of activities to celebrate my 45th Birthday Anniversary. Today is very significant to me in so many ways. Once again, thanks be to Almighty Allah. I was opportune to call shots at two different Ministries; Ministry’ of youth and Social Development and Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment, within the span of Three and Half years.
I can say that in those two Ministries, I initiated and innovated some landmark projects and programmes.
Honestly, these could not have been possible without the unflinching support of the Permanent Secretaries, Directors, Assistant Directors, Heads of Departments and all Staff of the Ministries. I sincerely thank you all.
The journey started from the Ministry of Youth and Social Development where I spent 26 months before being redeployed in 2018. The Ministry is established to provide Social Development Services that give succor to the vulnerable members of the society, Children, Youths, Elderly and Persons Living with Disability.
While there, we were able to achieve the followings just to mention but a few.
IBILE YOUTH ACADEMY (IYA)
It is leadership training for youths at the five divisions of the state, namely Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos Island, and Epe. The academy was specifically designed to be a life-changing experience for all participated youths drawn across the state. It has helped the youths to chart a path for progressive and prosperous adult life. At the end of the academy, Lana Promise emerged as the overall winner and became the First Youth Ambassador for Lagos State.
Also, we were able to streamline the adoption process in Lagos State to meet with the best international practice in the world.
Fortunately, during this period, hundreds of couples became parents. As part of our efforts, we initiated an aggressive campaign against child trafficking and a total clampdown on illegal orphanage homes.
Also, Vocational Training and Entrepreneurship was established for specific and special training centres across the state.
In order to run an all-inclusive programme, we empowered persons living with disabilities (PWDs) and built elderly homes.
We further streamlined school social services across the 6 Educational Districts and SUBEB. Empowerment of children in special correctional centres was not left out.
It is worthy to note that I introduced and published the Youth Policy Document being first of its kind in the state. The document serves as a guide for both the government at different levels and Youth. Proper implementation of this policy will go a long way in reducing Youth/Government face-off.
In January 2018, I was redeployed to the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment (MWCE). This Ministry is saddled with the responsibility to initiate, formulate, execute and evaluate policies.
It also sets and regulates standards for all wealth creation and employment-related matters in the state and to create value-chain systems. Here are the highlights of my achievements.
We launched the Artisan Virtual Market initiative. This is an online platform created to connect skilled Artisans and Tradesmen with customers in need of their goods and services in a secure environment.
Also, KITE @Yaba was initiated. This is a technology hub that is meant to create an enabling environment for technology-driven business in the state. KITE means Knowledge, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship.
Employability Skills training was developed. The ministry collaborated with many private sectors including not limited to, 1st CRT, WAVE, Academy, Automedics and Oracle. Over 2,000 unemployed graduates were trained and many of them got job placement with both public and private organizations.
Mindset Re-orientation Program was conceived to change the thinking and reasoning of the unemployed graduates about available job opportunities and how to harness their talents and potentials to rnake a living outside “White Collar” jobs.
As a result of this effort almost 3,000 youths benefitted and found job in entrepreneurship.
ESTABLISHMENT OF INCUBATION CENTRES
Due to the fact not everyone who has successfully undergone different vocational training such as tailoring, hairdressing, welding and fabrication etc, could access start-up capital to buy the basic machineries or rent a shop, as a result of which they become redundant and unemployed after training, therefore, I proposed an idea that incubation centres be established in the 5 divisions whereby government will provide different workshop equipment for various artisans to use till they can stand on their own.
In conclusion, I want to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who has come down to celebrate this birthday with me. You are all awesome!
Let me borrow from the words of Seth Godin, “The secret of leadership is simple: Do what you believe in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there, People will follow”.
Thank you for listening!
BEING AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY THE IMMEDIATE-PAST COMMISSIONER FOR WEALTH CREATION AND EMPLOYMENT, LAGOS STATE, PHARM (MRS) UZAMAT AKINBILE-YUSSUF, ON THE OCCASION OF HER 45TH BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY AND ACCOUNT OF STEWARDSHIP, HELD AT MULTIPURPOSE HALL, MUSAROQ MALL, ON SUNDAY, 9TH OF JUNE 2019.
