Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele has advocated for increased investments in digital technologies and entrepreneurial training as measures to address the country’s high youth unemployment rate.
Most Nigerian youths face an uncertain future, with shrinking opportunities for securing paid jobs or exploring the generational wealth that entrepreneurship often offers.
Conscious of this challenge, the college came up with its 37th convocation lecture, which Chairman, Governing Council of the college, Prof. Funso Afolabi, described as timely and strategic. Its essence, according to him, was to prepare new graduates for navigating the challenges of shrinking opportunities.
This, Afolabi said, became imperative at a time when digital transformation is redefining global competitiveness, reshaping labour markets, and expanding the frontiers of innovation.
While Chairman, Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, chaired the event, Bamidele delivered the lecture purely from the institutional perspective.
Each of them provided deep insight into the deployment of new technologies for the development of start-up businesses that can catalyse exponential economic growth.
In his lecture, Bamidele canvassed greater investments in digital technologies and entrepreneurial training as measures to address the country’s youth unemployment rate.
He pointed out the trends in different parts of the world, whether in the established or emerging economies. The trends, he said, show that it is no longer tenable for governments to provide white-collar jobs for graduates from higher institutions.
He, therefore, highlighted the emergence of the digital economy, which he said new technologies and digital skills had been driving.
He explained the roles of the younger generation, especially new graduates, in driving the country’s digital economy through new technologies and requisite skills in blockchain, data analytics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, web development, content marketing, cloud computing, immersive technologies, and other forms of digital marketing.
The Senate leader emphasised the centrality of digital skills to the 21st-century world, arguing that countries seeking economic growth and sustainability in the present world should prioritise the need to import innovative knowledge and digital skills for the advantage of their people, especially the youth population.”
He also pointed out that it “is no longer realistic the world over for governments to provide white-collar jobs for all the young graduates from the universities, polytechnics, technical colleges and other tertiary institutions. This is no longer fashionable, nor is it sustainable.”
Bamidele noted that governments “are seriously looking for ways to prune the cost of governance and taking bold measures to drive innovations through synergy with the private sector.
This is evident in the recent resolution of the National Assembly to enact the Nigeria Data Protection Commission Act, 2025, to reflect new realities in the country’s digital environment.”
He noted that the legislation was designed to shape the country’s digital economy, strengthen its data protection, and ensure sustained regulatory oversight in the digital space. The review of the Act, according to him, became crucial in defining the future relationship between the government, tech companies and Nigerians.
With these reforms, the Senate leader encouraged the new graduates to embrace new technologies and acquire digital skills, pointing out that the new wave of technological revolution and the attendant emergence of digital economies around the globe indicated that countries, determined to survive the prevailing global economic realities, should prioritise the impartation of innovative knowledge and technical skills in their young people.
Bamidele also explained the strategic national significance of the 2024 National Digital Economy and e-governance Act. Enacted by the 10th National Assembly, the senate leader said the legislation, which came to force in July 2024, attested to the readiness of the federal government to take advantage of the new skills and technologies generously offered.
The lawmaker recalled the essence of establishing YABATECH, which was to provide full time and part time training in technology, applied science, commerce and management, agricultural production and distribution; and research.
He observed that the priority which the institution attached to the development of technology, creative innovation and entrepreneurship training could not be overemphasized. For him, it is an eloquent testimony to the depth of the vision of past leaders who played a vital role in its establishment.
Bamidele, however, challenged the leadership of the college to come up with more initiatives that would revolutionise the country’s digital education and transformation. He admitted that the public institutions could not drive the process alone.
While highlighting the role of the private sector in building capacities required for harnessing the gains of the digital economy, the senate leader enjoined the private sector “to focus on mentorship and networking by pairing upcoming entrepreneurs with experienced ones; creating peer communities; facilitating access to markets.”
Afolabi, who commended the Senate leader for his insights on the subject, said it would no doubt enrich their understanding of the intersection between digital innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth.
The Rector of the institution, Dr Ibraheem Abdul, said the lecture captured the essence of YABATECH’s transition to a specialised University of Technology and Vocational Training. The essence, he said, is to fill the skill gaps in the country’s digital space.
“We are not only preparing our graduates for the future of work, but we are also equipping them to shape it. The digital age demands creators, innovators, and problem-solvers, and today’s conversation challenges all of us to harness emerging technologies for sustainable economic growth,” Abdul stated.
