The Nigeria Youth Employment Through Skills Acquisition Fund (NYESAF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Training Service Providers (TSPs) to train 75,000 youths nationwide, aiming to enhance employability, entrepreneurship, and economic independence among young Nigerians.
The World Bank-sponsored pilot project is designed to transform youth employment and skills development in Nigeria. It is housed under the Federal Ministry of Education as part of the Innovation, Development, and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) project.
The initiative underscores the government’s commitment to equipping youths with essential skills to drive economic growth and self-sufficiency.
The World Bank education specialist, Mistura Rufai, at the Contract/MOU Signing and Implementation Workshop held in Abuja, Nigeria, said the TSPs are expected within the period of 18 months to train, certify and work towards job placements for the over 75,000 youths in the age bracket of 15-35 years.
She said the NYESAF project has an estimated cost of 60 million dollars.
“We are looking at about 60 million dollars. So, the Ideas Project is currently a project of about $130 million, but for this component of the project, we’re looking at about $60 million for the NYESAF.
“So the project’s objective of IDEAS is to see how we enhance the capacity of the Nigerian skills development system to provide skills for both the informal and formal sector. NYESAF looks at using result-based contracting to provide short-duration training for youth.
“So for this cohort, we’re looking at training about 75,000 trainees going forward. So, the cost of training will vary based on the trades and based on the market prices that the TSPs, that’s the training service providers, provide.
“We are also hoping that if this model works, it’s something that we can push out into the Nigerian system and expand and continue if it leads to employment for the youth; we can get more funding and do more.
“We’re piloting this by using short-duration training to see how we can do RBCs, i.e. result-based contracting with both private and public sector trainers to see how we can get our youth trained and employed.”
She warned that any of the TSPs who do not do the right enrollment and training would be blacklisted and prosecuted, urging them not to engage their family members but those on the streets, mosques, and churches, among others, who are in dear need of skills that could lead to their employment in and outside the country.
“We will be monitoring the project using renowned companies like KPMG and others. If you default, we will come for you. We want to progress.
“It is on record that Nigeria imports skills; this is not good for the society and the economy. This is what we aim to change; we want to build a skills ecosystem for Nigeria.”
Mistura urged TSPs to take the capacity they can manage in their training centres as well as engage professional instructors instead of quacks, stressing that the project, which has been a success story in Kenya, South Africa and other countries, needed to be replicated in Nigeria.
The National Project Coordinator for the IDEAS Project, Mrs Blessing Ogwu, said the IDEAS project is a five-year programme focusing on the objectives of reducing unemployment among Nigerian youths.
She said the project has four components, with component one focusing on technical education, while component two focuses on the informal sector.
“That’s why we are here today. The out-of-school, the vulnerable, and the physically challenged. The Nigerian Youth Employment Through Skills Acquisition Fund is one of the components or the sub-components.
“Then component three is focusing on technical teachers’ education. While component four is cross-cutting. We have IGF.
IGF is an Innovation Grant Fund. We have gender-based violence and some other aspects.
“But today, it’s the signing of an MOU agreement among the TSPs. That is the training service providers so that trained Youths can provide good services and consumers get value or quality for their money,” she said
One of the training service providers, TSPs, Dr Abdul Gaffar Ahmed from the Federal College of Education Technical, Gombe State, not Eastern Nigeria, who would be providing training in the auto mechanical sector, said the programme is good for the youths.
He said the federal government, the Minister of Education, the World Bank, and other stakeholders are very passionate about the project, all in the desire to equip the youths with the desired skills, promising that the Training Service Providers will do their best.
“So that the youth can make something out of their life. It’s a great project, and I want to assure the World Bank and the Ministry that the training providers are equal to the task.
“We are going to do our best to ensure that we give quality training to our youth so that they can be competent in their area of specialisation,” he added.
The programme was designed for only Nigerian youths; as such, the NIN is a prerequisite for registration.
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