Vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, has disclosed that N-Power programme, which has provided jobs for 500,000 young Nigerian graduates in the last two years, has a target of training 10 million Nigerians by 2023.
According to a statement by his spokesman, Laolu Akande, Prof Osinbajo stated this during his special lecture on “The Challenges of Human Development in 21st Century Africa,” yesterday, at the prestigious Oxford University, United Kingdom.
He said, “As the proportion of working age group of 15-59 years would continue to increase steadily over the next years, Nigeria has the advantage of “demographic dividend. Harnessing the demographic dividend through appropriate skill development efforts provides an opportunity to achieve inclusion and productivity within the country.
“Over the past two years, through the N-Power Programme, the largest post tertiary employment programme in Africa, we have been able to offer skills development programmes digitally to over 500,000 young citizens between the ages of 18 and 35. We have set a target of skilling 10 million Nigerians by 2023.”
He further said human capital development must be a priority of public policy of governments across Africa, to effectively tackle multidimensional poverty and improve long-term development on the continent.
During the lecture, Prof Osinbajo highlighted ongoing investments, efforts and plans of the Nigerian government and the progress it has made in improving the country’s Human Capital Development indices and investment climate, as well as the widespread impact of the National Social Investment Programmes (N-SIP).
Despite the enormous challenges of human capital development in Africa, the vice president further called on African governments to unlock the “opportunities to significantly move the needle in the journey to vastly improved standards of existence for our people.”
“All over Africa, the political will to better the lot of our restive populations is evident, innovative ideas are also in abundance; if we keep our focus, especially on good governance, the next two decades may truly be the African decades,” he said.
