Minister of Youth Development, Hon. Ayodele Olawande, said on Tuesday that the Federal Government is set to revitalise youth development centres across Nigeria as part of efforts to close the country’s widening skills gap.

He said the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Federal Ministry of Youth Development and the Africa Projects Development Centre (APDC) marks a major step towards coordinated youth empowerment, skills acquisition and sustainable development.

Olawande disclosed this in Abuja during the MoU signing ceremony, noting that the partnership aligns with the ministry’s guiding principle of “One youth, two skills.”

He noted that the collaboration would reposition existing youth development centres as modern training hubs that deliver vocational, technical, digital, and entrepreneurial skills.

The minister stressed that every young Nigerian who passes through the ministry’s programmes must acquire at least two practical skills to enhance employability and reduce reliance on imported labour.

Olawande said: “This MoU will help us achieve a long-awaited revitalisation of our youth development centres nationwide. We have many centres with strong structures that can be repurposed into modern training hubs. Closing the skills gap is critical to economic growth and national development.”

He added that the partnership would also strengthen implementation and monitoring, particularly through collaboration with development partners and financial institutions.

He noted that global best practice favours strong government leadership complemented by private-sector expertise.

Earlier, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry, Dr Maryam Keshinro, described the MoU signing as a reflection of shared commitment to empowering young Nigerians through strategic collaboration.

She said the ministry recognised APDC as a credible partner with proven expertise in project design, capacity building and youth incubation, and that the agreement provides a framework to transform youth development centres into modern training and incubation hubs nationwide.

Keshinro said: “This partnership will enhance resource mobilisation from development banks and partners, while strengthening our institutional capacity for project implementation and monitoring.”

She expressed confidence that the collaboration would deliver measurable impact and advance President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

In his remarks, Managing Director of the Africa Projects Development Centre, Dr. Chiji Ojukwu, said the MoU formalised months of engagement between APDC and the ministry, following an earlier directive to work closely with ministry officials.

Ojukwu said APDC has empowered over 9,000 young people and women since its establishment, with a strong emphasis on women-focused initiatives and inclusive programmes for both genders.

He explained that while APDC initially focused on agriculture, it has since expanded into skills development, entrepreneurship, waste-to-wealth initiatives, and the fashion and creative industries, as well as partnerships with institutions such as TVET bodies, the Industrial Training Fund, First Bank, and the Women’s Bank.

The APDC boss said the new partnership would enable the organisation to scale its programmes beyond Abuja and the North-Central zone to all parts of the country, and to contribute lessons from programme implementation to national youth and development policies.

He added that engagements with development finance institutions, such as the African Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank, had already generated significant interest, and he expressed optimism that the collaboration would yield concrete outcomes for Nigerian youths.