Moves to develop 10-year roadmap to tackle industrial skills gap

The Federal Government has unveiled a N10 billion investment in digital skills training targeted at equipping 32,000 Nigerians with globally recognised certifications and connecting them to employment opportunities in the digital economy.
 
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja at the launch of the Digital Training Academy, a national platform designed to provide free digital and professional training to Nigerians under the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI).
 
Alausa said the programme, being implemented in partnership with global learning providers, including Coursera and Pluralsight, would equip beneficiaries with skills in software development, artificial intelligence and machine learning, Information Technology (IT) automation, cybersecurity, cloud computing, natural language processing and quantum computing.
 
He said the initiative was designed not merely to increase the number of Nigerians with digital certificates but to translate training into jobs, enterprise and higher productivity.
 
“Our objective here is very clear: to bridge Nigeria’s skills gap, improve employability and enable more of our citizens to take part in the digital economy,” the minister said.
 
According to him, the programme has set a target of 32,000 enrolments and certificates to ensure that beneficiaries can apply their competencies to secure employment, support businesses and compete in the global marketplace.
 
Alausa said the government had also made provision for access centres equipped with internet connectivity and learning devices across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to ensure that lack of devices or reliable internet would not prevent Nigerians from participating.

In the same vein, the Federal Government has commenced the development of a 10-year National Industrial Workforce Strategy aimed at addressing Nigeria’s persistent industrial skills gap and preparing the workforce for emerging industries.
 
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industrial Training and Development, Adamson Ayinde, disclosed this yesterday at a joint press briefing with the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to announce the Second National Industrial Manpower Summit (NIMS 2026) scheduled for October 15 and 16 in Abuja.
 
Ayinde said the summit, with the theme “Unlocking Nigeria’s Human Capital for Industrial Transformation: Building Skills, Driving Innovation and Creating Prosperity,” would focus on moving from dialogue to implementation in the country’s skills-development ecosystem.
 
He said the proposed workforce strategy would include sector-specific workforce roadmaps, stronger Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and apprenticeship systems, deeper industry-academia collaboration and expanded skills development in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, automation, renewable energy and advanced manufacturing.