The Federal Government has set a target of creating one million export-linked jobs and producing 10 million globally certified Nigerians by 2030 through reforms in education and skills development.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this at the “Hire From Nigeria” side event held on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
According to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Ikharo Attah, on Sunday in Abuja, Alausa said the Federal Ministry of Education was playing a key role in the supply side of the National Talent Export Programme by developing a talent pipeline directly linked to global employment opportunities.
He said the ministry was repositioning Nigeria’s education and skills system to produce trained, certified and adaptable workers capable of competing in the global outsourcing and digitally enabled services market.
Alausa identified Nigeria’s youthful population, English-language advantage, cultural adaptability and growing digital capabilities as key strengths that could support the country’s participation in the global services economy.
“Nigeria’s greatest asset is its people: a young, ambitious, English-speaking and increasingly digitally capable population,” he said.
The minister, however, said skills, quality and reliability would determine Nigeria’s competitiveness in an increasingly changing global market.
He identified the gap between training and evolving employer demands, limited work-based learning opportunities and inadequate access to internationally recognised certification as some of the challenges that needed to be addressed.
Alausa said the ministry was tackling the challenges through curriculum reforms, stronger accreditation and quality assurance, as well as expanded digital and technical training.
“We need a permanent employer-led feedback loop, not occasional curriculum reviews,” he said.
He stressed the need for employers to participate in programme design, training, assessment, certification and recruitment to ensure that skills development remained aligned with labour-market needs.
The minister also said the reform agenda was aimed at changing perceptions of Technical and Vocational Education and Training by positioning skills acquisition as a pathway to income, enterprise and global employment opportunities.
Alausa disclosed that the Federal Government’s free TVET programme had received more than one million applications, with about 160,000 trainees supported through approximately 1,200 centres nationwide. The centres include Federal Technical Colleges and accredited private training institutions.
He said the government was also promoting multiple pathways to employment and enterprise through university education, TVET, apprenticeships and continuous upskilling.
The minister said the initiatives formed part of broader efforts to build a workforce capable of accessing international employment and service opportunities while contributing to Nigeria’s services export economy.
The Federal Government had earlier launched the “Hire From Nigeria” campaign as part of efforts to connect Nigerian professionals, skilled workers, digital experts, creatives and service providers with international employers and clients, with a target of one million export-linked jobs by 2030.
