The federal government has unveiled plans to lift five million young Nigerians out of poverty through skills acquisition and empowerment programmes designed to create sustainable livelihoods and improve employability.
Implemented under the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS), the initiative will equip beneficiaries with practical, market-relevant skills and provide support to help them become economically independent.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education, Dr Abiola Arogundade, disclosed this on Monday in Ibadan at the commencement of the Oyo State phase of the programme.
The two-week training, which runs from September 28 to October 9, targets 200 young Nigerians in Graphics and Artificial Intelligence (AI), makeup artistry, and fashion design.
Arogundade said the intervention was part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s drive to tackle poverty and unemployment by expanding access to technical, vocational and entrepreneurial education across the country.
According to her, the programme, which commenced with a pilot in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has now moved to Oyo State and will subsequently be extended to other states and geopolitical zones.
Of the 200 beneficiaries participating in the Oyo programme, 30 are being trained in Graphics and AI, while 85 participants are undergoing training in makeup artistry and fashion designing.
Arogundade said the government’s intervention would not end with training, explaining that beneficiaries would also be linked with organisations and business opportunities to help them translate their newly acquired skills into sustainable sources of income.
‘So with this programme, we are training 200 people. We will also be distributing 500 tablets during the grand finale of the programme as part of the Federal Government’s digital empowerment drive.
‘We are directly empowering 700 people in this programme, and there will be a multiplier effect.
‘We are not just training them for themselves, but we are training them for their communities, for the population, and for all the states in Nigeria’, she said.
The presidential aide urged the beneficiaries to maximise the opportunity by taking the training seriously and using the knowledge and tools provided to create businesses and transfer skills to others in their communities.
‘I want to just encourage them to do their best.
‘I want to encourage them to know that President Bola Tinubu is thinking about all Nigerians, all young Nigerians in the country and is ready to address their plights’, Arogundade said.
She reiterated the administration’s commitment to creating pathways for young Nigerians to achieve economic self-reliance through practical training, entrepreneurship and access to productive tools.
Keynote speaker for the Graphics and AI training, Mrs Oluronke Shonubi, said the growing adoption of artificial intelligence offered Nigeria an opportunity to accelerate development, strengthen employability and prepare its young population for emerging jobs.
One beneficiary, Idowu Olalere, a 400-level student at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), said the programme would help young Nigerians bridge the gap between their existing abilities and the changing requirements of the labour market.
Other beneficiaries, Mrs Iyabo Ajayi, who is undergoing makeup training, and Fatunbi Joshua, a fashion design trainee, expressed optimism that the initiative would help reduce unemployment by providing participants with practical skills for self-employment.
At the end of the programme, beneficiaries will receive start-up tools, including laptops for Graphics and AI trainees, sewing machines for fashion designers and fully equipped makeup kits for those trained in makeup artistry.
The intervention forms part of the Federal Government’s broader NPRGS programme, which aims to reduce poverty, promote inclusive economic growth, and expand opportunities for young Nigerians through technical, vocational, and entrepreneurship education.