The Lagos State Government has graduated 570 young men and women from the Eko Studio Culture Talent Development Program as part of efforts to strengthen the creative economy and equip young people with skills for sustainable careers.\n<\/p>\n
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Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by Deputy Governor Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, made this known at the Eko Studio Culture Graduation Ceremony, themed \u201cCreating Wealth, Elevating Lagos Creatives,\u201d held at the Adeyemi-Bero Auditorium in Alausa.\n<\/p>\n
Sanwo-Olu reaffirmed his administration\u2019s commitment to building a 21st-century economy driven by creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, noting that investments in talent development remain central to the state\u2019s economic agenda.\n<\/p>\n
He disclosed that the Lagos State Government recently launched a \u20a610 billion Cooperative Fund to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), including businesses expected to be established by graduates of the Eko Studio Culture Programme.<\/p>\n
According to the governor, the initiative aligns with the state\u2019s THEMES+ Agenda by promoting innovation, job creation and economic growth.\n<\/p>\n
He noted that the 570 beneficiaries were selected from the five administrative divisions of Lagos, describing the programme as an investment in the state\u2019s greatest asset\u2014its people.\n<\/p>\n
Sanwo-Olu encouraged the graduates to embrace entrepreneurship by building businesses and brands capable of competing across Africa and globally, rather than relying solely on paid employment.\n<\/p>\n
He also urged them to leverage technology, continuously improve their skills and maintain professionalism and consistency as they pursue careers in the creative industry.\n<\/p>\n
Speaking at the event, the Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Akinyemi Ajigbotafe, said the Eko Studio Culture Programme was designed to provide young Lagosians with practical skills through classroom learning, virtual training, hands-on experience and mentorship from industry professionals.<\/p>\n
He described the graduation as a celebration of talent, resilience and the commitment of participants who invested in developing skills relevant to Nigeria\u2019s rapidly expanding creative economy.\n<\/p>\n
In his goodwill message, the Lagos State Head of Service, Olabode Agoro, reiterated the government\u2019s commitment to creating an enabling environment where young people can innovate, build careers and contribute to the state\u2019s economic development.\n<\/p>\n
He said the programme was established in response to growing interest among young people in the entertainment industry, with the goal of promoting self-reliance, wealth creation and societal development through creative enterprise.\n<\/p>\n
Also speaking, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Dream Music Hall Academy, Bolaji Williams, described Lagos as the centre of Nigeria\u2019s creative economy.\n<\/p>\n
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He revealed that the state\u2019s entertainment industry generated an estimated $10.8 billion<\/strong> between 2024 and 2025, adding that the Eko Studio Culture Programme was created to bridge the gap between creativity and business by equipping participants with entrepreneurship, finance and business management skills needed to build sustainable careers.\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lagos State Government has graduated 570 young men and women from the Eko Studio Culture Talent Development…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1084332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3094],"tags":[51,256243,296548,104163,296549,55165,3134,1302,285336,296550,296551,296552,31564,35905,16,15,55173,10926],"class_list":["post-1084331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entrepreneurship","tag-business","tag-business-mentorship","tag-business-partners-limited","tag-business-plan","tag-business-plan-competition","tag-business-training","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-innovation","tag-sme-development","tag-sme-toolkit-south-africa","tag-south-africa-entrepreneurs","tag-south-africa-opportunities","tag-startup-competition","tag-startup-funding","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-young-entrepreneurs","tag-youth-entrepreneurship"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116906404479237745","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1084331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1084332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1084331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1084331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1084331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}