The Federal Government has expanded its National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS) to Oyo, Enugu and Kebbi states, targeting 1,200 young Nigerians in the initial nationwide phase of its skills acquisition and entrepreneurship programme.
The initiative, a flagship Federal Government intervention aimed at lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within 10 years through economic growth and targeted social protection, is being implemented by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education (OSSAP-TVEE).
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education, Dr Abiola Arogundade, who announced the expansion in a statement on Monday, said the programme was being extended across the country’s geopolitical zones following the success of its pilot phase in Abuja.
Arogundade described the NPRGS as a central pillar of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, anchored on the administration’s belief that Nigerian youths are ‘not the problem facing the country but the solution to its challenges’.
According to her, the programme is designed to equip young Nigerians with practical and marketable skills, reduce unemployment and underemployment, encourage entrepreneurship and self-reliance, and advance the government’s target of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within a decade.
The NPRGS commenced with its pioneer cohort in Abuja on June 30, 2025, where beneficiaries underwent an intensive 10-day training programme in cybersecurity and web development alongside a solar energy installation upscaling track.
Arogundade described the Abuja phase as a ‘resounding success’, saying participants who initially arrived sceptical completed the programme with practical and marketable skills.
Participants in the digital training built their first websites and acquired knowledge of digital security fundamentals, while graduates received laptops and certificates of completion.
The Presidency said the Abuja pilot attracted more than 7,000 applications, which it described as an indication of the strong public demand for the intervention.
Building on the Abuja experience, the programme is now being expanded across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones, with each zone expected to host 200 trainees for intensive training sessions lasting between 10 days and two weeks.
A total of 1,200 Nigerian youths are expected to benefit from the initial nationwide phase, while the particular skills offered in each participating state are being selected on the basis of local market demand, relevance and the preferences of trainees.
In Oyo State, representing the South-West zone, training is scheduled to commence on September 28, 2026, and run daily from 9am to 5pm for two weeks.
Beneficiaries in the state will be trained in graphics and Artificial Intelligence design, makeup and fashion designing.
Enugu State, representing the South-East and serving as one of the six designated training hubs, will offer training in makeup, solar energy installation and fashion designing.
The solar energy component will expose participants to panel installation and maintenance as well as the development of off-grid energy solutions.
In Kebbi State, representing the North-West, beneficiaries will undergo training in graphics and Artificial Intelligence design, fashion design and agriculture, with the agricultural component focusing on yoghurt making.
Participants in the yoghurt production programme will be trained in dairy processing, packaging and small-scale agribusiness as part of efforts to enable beneficiaries turn acquired skills into viable economic ventures.
Beyond the training, the Federal Government said every participant would receive a complete training kit during the programme and would be allowed to take the equipment home upon completion.
Graphics and AI design trainees will receive laptops, while those trained in makeup will get fully equipped makeup kits.
Fashion design trainees will receive sewing machines and starter kits, while beneficiaries of the agriculture and yoghurt-making programme will be provided with fermentation kits.
Arogundade said the intervention was structured not merely to provide training but to give beneficiaries the tools required to immediately put their newly acquired skills to productive use.
She said the programme’s objectives include efforts to ‘equip Nigerian youths with practical, marketable skills’, ‘reduce unemployment and underemployment’ and ‘promote entrepreneurship and self-reliance’.
According to her, these objectives are ultimately tied to the broader national ambition to ‘lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within 10 years’.
OSSAP-TVEE said the expansion to the three states was part of a broader national rollout and appealed to state governments and other stakeholders to support the programme as it moves into additional states.
The office specifically called on state governments, traditional rulers, community leaders and the private sector to partner with the Federal Government in expanding the reach and impact of the initiative.
It said such collaboration would be important in ensuring that more young Nigerians acquire practical skills that respond to local economic needs and provide pathways to employment, entrepreneurship and self-reliance.