Minister for Youth Development, Federal Ministry of Youth Ayodele Olawande was appointed in Oct 2023 with focus on Skills, Jobs, Wealth & Leadership
Here’s what has been done so far on capacity building
SKILLS ACQUISITION & DIGITAL CAPACITY
Nigerian Youth Academy NiYA was re-launched as a digital skills hub to take care of over 1M youth registered for courses in coding, data analysis, UI/UX, content creation, digital marketing, product management with the goal to make youth employable globally without leaving Nigeria. The big shift from seminars to skills that pay, shortly after his assumption into office.
You might be unaware of 3 Million Technical Talents tagged 3MTT Partnership, Ministry of Youth partnered with Ministry of Communications to train youth in tech skills which starting from nominating, training and linking to jobs/freelancing platforms to meet remarkable vision, the initiative was made possible within shortest period,
Vocational & Entrepreneurship Training, different states bootcamps on Agri-business, fashion, carpentry, welding, training on nationwide metering of the Federal Government initiative using NYSC Members, solar installation, beauty chamber & catering while some of the program participants get starter kits & equipment with linkage to BOI/CBN loans to kick-started with,
LEADERSHIP & CITIZENSHIP CAPACITY
Repositioned Citizenship & Leadership Training Centers – CLTIs in Igbonla, Apapa and Jos while new curriculum added in leadership, digital literacy, peace building, mental health, drug abuse with 15,000 plus youths trained including NYSC members, students, PWDs, and young women leaders,
NYSC WAGES
Wages were mandated to pay as at when due and other attachment coupled with better life for NYSC corp members and safety measure accross all camps of the federation, the highest security apparatus are guaranteed while under the coverage of the Federal Government facility.
CLTI Alumni Network created to mentor new cohorts and drive community projects,
ENTREPRENEURSHIP & FINANCIAL CAPACITY
Youth Investment Fund – YIF with low interest loans for youth led SMEs focusing on agriculture, manufacturing, tech and creative industry with first batch disbursement started in 2024 with the vision of engaging and tackling joblessness for national cohesion,
Capacity Building for Cooperatives,
Training youth cooperatives on bookkeeping, store management, branding, market access and grant applications.
Creator Economy & Freelancing Drive Workshops on how to earn foreign currency from Nigeria via Upwork, Fiverr, YouTube, TikTok. Partnerships with private sector to certify youth.
HEALTH & DRUG ABUSE
Anti-Drug Abuse Campaign, campaign are on against drug abuse and trafficking in schools and campuses with NDLEA peer group given mandate to operate unhindered, peer education training for youth ambassadors and volunteers at all our NYSC orientation camps accross the country.
Mental Health & Career Counseling Included in CLTI and NiYA training partnerships with NGOs to provide free counseling in all our Citizenship and Leadership Training Institutions,
PARTNERSHIPS & SCALE
Capacity building was scaled through partnerships instead of doing it alone, Private Sector Google, Microsoft, Cisco & Fintech for tech training, international organization UNDP, ILO, UNICEF for youth employment programs with States working with State Commissioners for Youth to domesticate programs in our local terrains,
Within 2023 to 2025 on Digital Skills, about 1M plus youths onboarded on NiYA platform and Leadership Training, to test run the program 15,000 plus trained across 3 CLTI centers on vocational skills while over 30,000 youths trained with starter packs in 36 states of the federation with employment linkage while database of trained youth linked to jobs, internships, grants
focus in large, the target is produce over 5Million more accross the country in few years ahead,
Core philosophy on Olawande’s approach “Don’t just give youth fish. Teach them to fish, provide pond & connect them to the market,
so capacity building is not just training, it’s training, tools, funding, market access enabling.
Bottom line! In three years, the Ministry moved capacity building from one-off workshops to a working system which include digital skills, vocational skills, leadership skills, and funding with all tied to jobs and entrepreneurship.
