23 coys emerge as 2017 Lagos Ready Set Work Project ends
No fewer than 23 small scale enterprises sprang up during this year’s edition of Ready Set Work Project (RSW) of the Lagos State Government which ended last Saturday.
They include Eco-friendly Technology, Shella Ventures, Coif Beauty Salon, Sollite Energy and Power Limited, Mech Global Tech Solutions, Connect.com, Green Oil Enterprise, Borah Organic, Carpunch and so forth.
Their founders (either on partnership or sole ownership basis) and who are final year students of six tertiary institutions in Lagos State under RSW project, demonstrated how they could turn these companies in form of business ideas and plans into real income and employment generation ventures in near future if only government could help with start-up funds.
They did the demonstration at a Business Pitch Competition held for that purpose at the Lagos State University, LASU, Ojo to end the 13 weeks training for the year with a team of panelists as judges to select those with convincing plans to succeed for sponsorship by the state government.
The panelists included the State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Wale Oluwa; Vice-Chancellor of LASU, Prof Olanrewaju Fagbohun; Managing Director of ARM Limited, Mrs. Jumoke Ogundare; Permanent Secretary in the Office of Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Dr. Shamsudeen Allison; Provost of Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Ijanikin, Dr. Ladele Aina and Mr. Aderemi Atanda from Systemspec.
One of them, who is the state Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Wale Oluwa, explained selection criteria for the small scale enterprises, saying the panel was looking for business ideas that are most cost-effective, realistic and profitable, employment generation and impactful to the society.
He said the best three that met the conditions would be announced at an award ceremony where the state governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, would present them their various prizes as start-up funds on behalf of the state government.
He, however, noted that the remaining companies could still be monitored for readjustment of their plans if necessary for possible support in future.
He restated that the idea of RSW as a state’s government entrepreneurship and employability gesture to hone knowledge, skills and attitudes of participants ahead of their graduation was really yielding good results.
“The programme as you are all aware,” he noted, “is meant for final year students of all the five Lagos State-owned tertiary institutions that include LASU, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, AOCOED, Ijanikin; Michael Otedola College of Primary Education, Epe, MOCPED and the Lagos College of Heath Technology, Yaba, and the University of Lagos owned by the Federal Government.”
The scheme, though free and voluntary, featured over 1,500 participants from across participating schools.
