No fewer than 100 indigenes of Ajegunle area in Lagos have graduated from an empowerment scheme put together by Heritage Bank in partnership with Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) .
In line with the objective of the sponsors, beneficiaries, mainly youths, have been taken off the streets to become masters in their respective choice careers ranging from catering, bead making, event management, fashion design, arts, hair dressing, shoe cobbling among others, via the CVL Young Entrepreneurship Training Programme, YETP.
Representing the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Bank, Divisional Head, Corporate Banking, Apapa Region, Mr. Kehinde Olugbemi expressed appreciation to the founder of CVL, Professor Pat Utomi, for the initiative and urged the graduands to reciprocate the gesture by making the best of the opportunity.
“We are attracted to CVL because we seek how we can harness entrepreneurial skills of people, reduce unemployment and foster development of communities like Ajegunle. We are delighted with the mechanics of this program and we recognise the impact of successful businesses on young entrepreneurs and the society, which is why we provide funds for start-ups”, he said.
The bank also promised to open two physical agent banking kiosks in the community before the end of 2016,so as to make financial services more accessible to the graduands and the community at large.
In his remark, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, tasked the graduands to effectively apply acquired skills to add value to their wellbeing, reiterating that the state was committed to fighting unemployment by collaborating with private sector initiatives such as the CVL.
