By Omoyeni Ojeifo
As part of a strategic push to integrate Nigeria’s workforce into the global economy, the Federal Government has set a target for 2030: creating one million export-linked jobs and producing 10 million globally certified skilled professionals.
Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, disclosed this at the Hire From Nigeria side event on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Alausa outlined the Federal Ministry of Education’s role on the supply side of the National Talent Export Programme, according to a statement emailed to PerSecondNews on Sunday by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Ikharo Attah.
“These efforts form part of the Ministry’s role on the supply side of the National Talent Export Programme, which supports the national ambition of creating one million export-linked jobs and 10 million globally certified Nigerians by 2030,” Alausa declared.
He explained that the Ministry was also leading the Supply Technical Working Group under the programme while building a talent pipeline directly connected to global employment opportunities.
“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.”
Alausa identified Nigeria’s large youthful population, English-language advantage, cultural adaptability and growing digital capabilities as a strong foundation for participation in the global outsourcing and digitally enabled services economy.
The sector, he explained, offers opportunities to create jobs, increase export earnings and enable Nigerians to build globally sourced careers without leaving the country.
The Minister maintained that education was central to making the opportunity sustainable, with skills, quality and reliability determining Nigeria’s competitiveness in a rapidly changing global market.
He identified the gap between training and evolving employer demand, limited work-based learning opportunities and access to internationally recognised certification among the challenges requiring attention.
To close the gaps, Alausa outlined curriculum reform, stronger accreditation and quality assurance, alongside expanded digital and technical training through federal institutions and credible private training providers.
“We need a permanent employer-led feedback loop, not occasional curriculum reviews,” he stressed, urging employers to participate from programme design through training, assessment, certification and recruitment.
According to Alausa, the Federal Government is repositioning TVET as a pathway to income, enterprise and global opportunities, with its free programme attracting more than one million applications and supporting 160,000 trainees across approximately 1,200 centres nationwide, including Federal Technical Colleges and accredited private training centres.
Alausa also highlighted university education, TVET, apprenticeships and continuous upskilling as pathways to employment, entrepreneurship and further learning, while preparing young Nigerians for an economy increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and advanced technologies.
“We must train young people to work with artificial intelligence, not to compete with it on routine tasks,” he emphasised.
Alausa identified judgement, creativity, domain knowledge, data literacy, cybersecurity, cloud services, software development, customer success, quality assurance and AI-enabled operations as skills that complement technology.
Through the Digital Training Academy, the Federal Government is partnering with global learning providers, including Coursera and Pluralsight, to provide 32,000 Nigerians with free access to professional digital and technology training.
The programme covers product management, cloud computing, cybersecurity, information technology automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning, agentic artificial intelligence, financial technology, parallel computing, quantum computing and natural language processing, among other emerging fields.
The Student Venture Capital Grant is supporting students in STEMM disciplines to translate innovative ideas into viable enterprises, strengthening the connection between education, innovation and enterprise.
Given the pace of technological change, Alausa stressed the need for Nigeria’s education system to enable young people to learn, unlearn and retrain throughout their careers.
The Minister challenged international employers, Business Process Outsourcing operators, investors and development partners to move beyond expressions of interest towards practical partnerships and investable talent pipelines.
He urged employers to define their skills requirements, co-design training programmes, provide work-based learning, recognise credible Nigerian certifications, recruit from Nigerian talent pools and provide feedback on workforce performance.
BPO operators and investors, he added, should establish and expand delivery centres beyond Nigeria’s largest commercial cities while supporting training infrastructure, connectivity, quality systems and management capability.
Development partners, according to Alausa, can support the effort through scalable certification, instructor development, inclusion of women and underserved communities, labour-market intelligence and outcome measurement that tracks employment rather than training numbers alone.
He further advocated international institutional partnerships and centres of excellence in Nigerian institutions to strengthen global linkages, benchmarking and knowledge transfer.
In return, Alausa outlined the Ministry’s commitment to deepen industry participation in curriculum development and certification, expand market-relevant TVET and digital-skills pathways, strengthen accreditation and quality assurance, and improve the connection between institutions, training providers and employers.
The Minister reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to aligning education reform with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly its focus on human capital development, job creation, skills acquisition and inclusive economic growth.
“Under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, 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.”