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By Mustafa Isah
Any nation that wants to develop must see youth as its driving force. Their commitment is essential to achieve sustainable economic, social and political progress.
Over 65% of Nigeria’s population is made up of young people under the age of 30. This results in one of the youngest populations globally. Therefore, any government that wants to succeed in moving Nigeria forward has no option but to empower the youth and turn them into national assets.
Since its appearance in May 2023, the
President Bola Tinubu’s administration has prioritized youth empowerment as a central pillar of its agenda, with the aim of equipping young Nigerians with the tools needed for the global digital economy. The administration has launched more than twenty youth-focused initiatives, including the highly successful Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) student loan program. Interest-free loans have kept an estimated 1.5 million poor children in tertiary institutions despite the prevailing economic realities. They received a total of $283 billion from the fund.
The government has taken other initiatives to prioritize youth development as a central strategy for economic growth, national security and sustainable innovation. These programs cover digital skills, agriculture, healthcare, entrepreneurship and the creative sector.
The most important ones include the
Nigerian Youth Academy (NiYA). This is an ambitious national learning platform targeting 7 million young people with practical skills and digital empowerment, with the aim of creating over 5 million jobs.
The youth activities dashboard represents an innovation in terms of transparency and implementation. This digital platform tracks over 7,000 youth programs and projects across all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) for visibility and accountability.
Another program known as
3MTT (3 Million Technical Talent) is one of Africa’s largest tech talent initiatives aimed at training millions of people in software development, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity to meet local and global digital job demand.
There is also the Digital Literacy for All course by
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). The current administration hopes to do so
make 70% of Nigerians digitally literate by 2027. Through this program, millions of people will have inclusive access to online learning.
Another important program is the Employment and Work Empowerment Program (LEEP). It’s a bold vision to generate 2.5 million jobs through digital nomad training, skills development and entrepreneurship across all sectors of the economy
The healthcare sector is no exception. THE
Nigeria Health Scholarship
The 774 youth program aims to train and automatically employ one person from each LGA to strengthen the health workforce and fill rural health gaps.
The Reimagining Hope creative residency
Empowerment is for the creative industry. It is aimed at young creative minds in the film, music, fashion and technology sectors through mentorship and structured financial support.
The NextGen Resilience Corps youth mobilization is another beautiful initiative to address climate change, environmental sustainability and local innovation. Linked to this is the methane-powered tricycle empowerment programme: 2,000 eco-friendly tricycles distributed to young Nigerians as part of the presidential CNG initiative, creating green jobs and transport solutions.
In the agricultural sector we have the Youth Agro Entrepreneurs program, YEIDEP. It is aimed at food entrepreneurs and young farmers and provides access to finance, training and market access in the agricultural sector and agri-food value chains.
The National Youth Agricultural Scheme based in Niger State has empowered 100,000 youth across agricultural value chains in partnership with the Niger State Government.
There is the Ministry of Steel Development Youth Bootcamp
Training. Trains young people in metallurgy, industrial welding and mechanical design to fill industrial skills gaps in the steel and construction sectors
The NDE Renewed Hope Employment Initiative has trained and resettled more than 33,000 youth with initial vocational skills packages across Nigeria, focused on job creation and SME development.
The AfDB’s $100 million loan for youth- and women-led businesses targets more than 38,000 youth-led businesses with capital and business support. It is expected to generate 161,000 direct and 1.4 million indirect jobs.
SMEDAN Creative and Garment Studios is providing young Nigerians in the creative economy and fashion industry with equipment, training and workspaces to start and scale businesses.
The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Youth Entrepreneurship Fund has committed P30 billion to youth entrepreneurship in the Niger Delta region, with incubation, access to finance and business acceleration programmes.
There is also a program for members of the National Youth Corps. THE
NYSC’s Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurial Development Program is designed to provide corps members with free, hands-on training in career and entrepreneurial pathways during orientation camp and throughout their service year. Fields include: software development, artificial intelligence and mobile apps, development, fashion design, food processing, solar energy installation, agriculture, photography and more. Beneficiaries are eligible to access business grants, startup kits, mentorship and NYSC-BOI’s ₦2 billion MSME financing.
Millions of young Nigerians have taken advantage of these laudable programs to empower themselves and millions more are free to benefit from them to equip themselves with skills vital to national development.
*Mustafa Isah,
Former President of the Nigerian Publishers Guild
