The Federal Government said it is working with relevant agencies, including the United Nations Children’s Fund and the International Labour Organisation, to give youths in the country the opportunities to acquire skills relevant to the 21st-century job market.
The Minister for Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, stated this at a two-day regional consultative meeting on the review of the Nigerian Youth Employment Action Plan for 17 southern states in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Olawande, who was represented by the Chief Youth Development Officer in the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, Bakare Abayomi, noted that the country’s youthful population is crucial to its economic transition.
According to the minister, NIYEAP, in collaboration with other development partners, started as a quick response to the rising youth unemployment and underemployment in the country.
Olawande explained that the review meeting is an opportunity for the government and development partners to listen to the concerns of youths and other stakeholders so as to come out with a framework that would ensure that the youth get the required skills to make them employable in the 21st-century labour market.
He said, “Young Nigerians must have access to quality education and skills, decent employment opportunities, entrepreneurship support, productive livelihoods and pathways for meaningful participation in the economy.
“The Federal Ministry of Youth Development recognizes the centrality of young people to Nigeria’s economic transformation. Consequently, my ministry, in collaboration with our partners, is committed to strengthening policies and programmes that create opportunities for young Nigerians to acquire relevant skills, access decent work, establish sustainable enterprises and contribute meaningfully to national development.
“The review of NIYEAP is therefore not merely an administrative exercise. It is an opportunity to strengthen our national response to youth unemployment and underemployment and ensure that our interventions are better coordinated, inclusive, evidence-based and responsive to the realities faced by young people across Nigeria.”
The minister acknowledged the strong support of the various development partners towards the implementation of the action plan, calling on state governments and the state Youth Employment Action Committees to take ownership of the youth employment agenda.
Representing UNICEF, Mrs Ngozi Izuora, an Adolescent Development Specialist with the organisation, said, “UNICEF believes that young people are not merely the leaders of tomorrow but the drivers of change, innovation, and economic transformation today; Nigeria’s youth population represents the country’s greatest wealth.”
In her remark, the Country Director of ILO, Dr Vannesa Phala, represented by Aisha Dirisu, commended the Federal Ministry of Youth Development for creating the platform to ensure that young people’s voices, experiences and aspirations inform the future direction of youth employment policy and programmes in Nigeria.
Speaking on behalf of the South-South states, Mr Nchelem Mekwa, Chairman, SAYEAC, Rivers State, described the meeting as timely, considering the prevailing unemployment challenges in the country, adding that it was important for states to come together and find solutions to unemployment issues before they snowballed into crisis.
