By Kazeem Waris
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 moves to position the country’s youthful population for opportunities in the global digital economy.
Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this at the Hire from Nigeria side event held on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Alausa said the Federal Ministry of Education was repositioning Nigeria’s education and skills system to produce trained, certified and adaptable workers capable of meeting the demands of the global outsourcing and digitally enabled services market.
According to him, Nigeria’s large English-speaking youth population, cultural adaptability and growing digital capabilities provide a strong foundation for competing for jobs and services globally.
“Nigeria’s greatest asset is its people: a young, ambitious, English-speaking and increasingly digitally capable population. Our task in Education is to turn that scale into verified competence and reliable service delivery,” he said.
The minister said the global outsourcing and digitally enabled services economy presented Nigeria with an opportunity to create jobs, increase export earnings and enable citizens to build international careers without necessarily leaving the country.
He, however, identified the disconnect between training and changing employer demands, inadequate work-based learning opportunities and limited access to internationally recognised certification as key challenges.
To address these gaps, Alausa said the government was pursuing curriculum reforms, stronger accreditation and quality assurance, alongside expanded digital and technical training through federal institutions and accredited private providers.
He stressed the need for employers to play a permanent role in shaping Nigeria’s skills pipeline.
“We need a permanent employer-led feedback loop, not occasional curriculum reviews,” Alausa said.
Under the proposed model, employers would participate in programme design, training, assessment, certification and recruitment to ensure that graduates acquire skills that correspond directly with labour-market demands.
The minister also disclosed that the Federal Government’s free Technical and Vocational Education and Training programme had attracted more than one million applications, with about 160,000 trainees already supported through approximately 1,200 centres nationwide.
He said the government was promoting multiple pathways into employment and enterprise, including university education, TVET, apprenticeships and continuous upskilling.
AI, digital skills take centre stage
Alausa said preparing Nigerian youths for an economy increasingly driven by artificial intelligence and advanced technologies was central to the education reform agenda.
“We must train young people to work with artificial intelligence, not to compete with it on routine tasks,” he said.
He said future-ready workers would need skills that complement technology, including creativity, judgement, data literacy, cybersecurity, cloud services, software development, quality assurance and AI-enabled operations.
Through the Federal Government’s Digital Training Academy, he said partnerships with global learning providers, including Coursera and Pluralsight, were giving 32,000 Nigerians free access to professional digital and technology training.
The minister also said the Student Venture Capital Grant was supporting students in STEMM disciplines to turn innovative ideas into viable businesses.
Alausa challenged international employers, business process outsourcing operators, investors and development partners to move beyond expressions of interest and build practical talent pipelines in Nigeria.
He urged employers to define their skills requirements, co-design training programmes, provide work-based learning opportunities and recruit from Nigerian talent pools.
He also called for increased investment in training infrastructure, connectivity, quality systems and delivery centres outside the country’s major commercial cities.
The initiatives form part of the National Talent Export Programme, under which Nigeria is targeting one million export-linked jobs and 10 million globally certified Nigerians by 2030. The Federal Ministry of Education is leading the programme’s Supply Technical Working Group.
Alausa said the reforms were aligned with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly its focus on human capital development, job creation, skills acquisition and inclusive economic growth.
“Our commitment is clear: we will continue to invest in the skills, knowledge and innovation of our young people and build an education system that gives Nigerian talent the capacity and confidence to compete and succeed anywhere in the world,” he said.
He said the ultimate goal was to build an education and skills system capable of connecting Nigerian talent to global opportunities while strengthening the country’s position in the international economy and enabling more young Nigerians to build sustainable careers at home and abroad.
