Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has highlighted Nigeria’s commitment to translating skills into jobs to drive sustainable economic growth. Speaking in New York at the 2025 United Nations General Assembly, he delivered a keynote address at the Skills-to-Jobs: Strengthening Workforce Systems for Economic Growth side event. The event was organized by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in partnership with Tech4Dev and Semicolon.
Dr. Alausa said, “It was an honour to join global leaders, partners, and innovators in New York to share Nigeria’s vision for translating skills into jobs and sustainable economic growth.”
He emphasized that the skills-to-jobs agenda is a top national development priority, especially with more than 70% of Nigeria’s 220 million citizens under the age of 30. According to him, skills acquisition remains the bridge connecting young people’s potential to real jobs, sustainable enterprises, and inclusive growth.
Under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s leadership, the government has placed skills at the center of education reforms through the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Initiative. This program is designed to translate technical training directly into jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities.
The TVET Initiative operates under three tracks. The first is the Short-Term Skill Training Centres, which offer six-month vocational programs. The second track, Vocational Enterprise Institutions, provides twelve-month specialized training. The third is the Technical College Track, which runs for three years.
Each track is aligned with the National Skills Qualification Framework and leads to NABTEB certifications. Students also receive stipends and starter toolkits to boost employability.
Progress recorded so far includes updated TVET curricula and occupational standards, retraining of 3,600 instructors, and the upgrading of 38 Federal Technical Colleges. The new TVET digital platform has received 1.3 million applications, with 960,000 completed. In addition, 1,600 accredited centers have been onboarded, and 58,000 students have been placed, with a target of up to 150,000. A total of 2,080 Quality Assurance Managers have also been trained nationwide.
“These are not just statistics — they represent young Nigerians moving from aspiration to opportunity, from skill to job,” Dr. Alausa stated.
He added that partnerships with governments, the private sector, and global institutions are vital, pledging to make skills “the currency of opportunity” so that no young Nigerian is left behind in the future of work.