The federal government has set a target of producing 10 million globally certified Nigerians and creating one million export-linked jobs by 2030, as it seeks a bigger share of the global outsourcing and digitally enabled services market.
Tunji Alausa, minister of education, disclosed this at the ‘Hire From Nigeria’ side event on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to a statement issued by Ikharo Attah, special adviser on media and communications to Alausa, in Abuja on Sunday.
Alausa said the ministry is the supply-side anchor of the National Talent Export Programme, building a talent pipeline linked directly to global employment opportunities.
‘Our task in education is to turn that scale into verified competence and reliable service delivery, English-language advantage, cultural adaptability and growing digital capabilities as the country’s edge,’ he said, pointing to Nigeria’s young population.
The minister said skills, quality and reliability would determine Nigeria’s competitiveness. He identified three key constraints: the gap between training and evolving employer demand, limited work-based learning opportunities, and poor access to internationally recognised certification.
To close them, the ministry is pursuing curriculum reform, stronger accreditation and quality assurance, and expanded digital and technical training.
‘We need a permanent employer-led feedback loop, not occasional curriculum reviews,’ Alausa said, urging employers to take part in programme design, training, assessment, certification and recruitment.
TVET drive
Alausa emphasised that the reform agenda also seeks to reposition Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as a pathway to income, enterprise and global opportunities.
The government’s free TVET programme has drawn more than one million applications, with 160,000 trainees supported across about 1,200 centres nationwide, including Federal Technical Colleges and accredited private training centres, he said.
Moreover, he said that the government is promoting multiple routes to employment and enterprise, including university education, TVET, apprenticeships and continuous upskilling.
Furthermore, the minister disclosed that preparing young Nigerians for an economy increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence (AI) was a priority.
‘We must train young people to work with artificial intelligence, not to compete with it on routine tasks,’ he said.
cybersecurity, IT automation, AI and machine learning, financial technology and natural language processing.
The minister added that the Student Venture Capital Grant is supporting students in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) to turn innovative ideas into viable businesses.
With technology changing rapidly, he said, the education system must enable young people to learn, unlearn and retrain throughout their careers.
Alausa urged international employers, business process outsourcing (BPO) operators, investors and development partners to move beyond expressions of interest to practical partnerships and investable talent pipelines.
Employers, he said, should define their skills requirements, co-design training programmes, provide work-based learning, recognise credible Nigerian certifications and recruit from local talent pools.
He also called on BPO operators and investors to set up and expand delivery centres beyond Nigeria’s largest commercial cities, while supporting training infrastructure, connectivity, quality systems and management capability.
Development partners, he said, could contribute through scalable certification, instructor development, inclusion of women and underserved communities, labour-market intelligence and outcome measurement.
International institutional partnerships and centres of excellence in Nigerian institutions would further strengthen global linkages, benchmarking and knowledge transfer, the minister added.
Going forward, the ministry will deepen industry participation in curriculum development and certification, expand market-relevant TVET and digital-skills pathways, and tighten accreditation and quality assurance.
Alausa reaffirmed that the reforms align with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly its focus on human capital development, job creation, skills acquisition, and inclusive economic growth.