YABATECH Emerges As FG’s Digital Skills Hub , N10.5bn Academy Targets 32,000 Nigerians
The Federal Government has enlisted the strategic support of Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) in its ambitious drive to equip more than 32,000 young Nigerians with globally relevant digital skills under the newly launched Digital Training Academy (DTA).
The partnership places Nigeria’s premier polytechnic at the heart of a major national human-capital development initiative designed to bridge the country’s digital skills gap, improve employability and position Nigerian youths to compete for opportunities in the global digital economy.
The Federal Government is committing more than N10.5 billion to the initiative, which was officially launched in Abuja on Monday by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa.
Under the arrangement, YABATECH, in partnership with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), will provide study centres, internet access and facilitators to support beneficiaries of the programme.
The development further reinforces YABATECH’s growing profile as a strategic institution in Nigeria’s technical, vocational and digital education ecosystem, particularly at a time when the Federal Government is placing increasing emphasis on skills acquisition, innovation, technology and employability.
Speaking at the launch, Alausa said the academy was designed to move beyond conventional classroom learning by connecting Nigerian talents to world-class learning, international certification, productive work, entrepreneurship and national development.
According to him, the programme represents a practical expression of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI).
He said beneficiaries would undergo six months of intensive digital training through leading global learning platforms, including Coursera and Pluralsight, with opportunities to obtain internationally recognised certifications from global technology companies.
The minister explained that the programme would focus on critical areas of the digital economy, including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, fintech, product management and quantum computing.
Alausa said the ultimate objective was to enable trained Nigerians to secure employment and provide professional services to companies and clients across the world without necessarily leaving the country.
“Today, we’re not merely unveiling an online learning portal. We’re opening a new pathway to opportunities for thousands of Nigerians.
“We’re connecting talents to world-class learning, learning to certification and certification to productive work, enterprise and national development,” he said.
The Minister stressed that the collaboration with YABATECH and NOUN was particularly important in addressing the challenges confronting young people who might lack personal computers, reliable internet connectivity or suitable environments for online learning.
By providing physical learning centres, connectivity and facilitators, he said, the government was ensuring that the benefits of digital education would extend beyond Nigerians who already had access to sophisticated digital infrastructure.
The programme will also provide a pathway for beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme to acquire international certifications and improve their competitiveness in the global labour market.
The inclusion of YABATECH in the initiative is significant given the College’s longstanding reputation as a pioneer institution in technical and technological education.
With its extensive experience in technical education, practical skills development and industry-oriented training, the College is strategically positioned to contribute to the Federal Government’s effort to transform young Nigerians from conventional job seekers into globally competitive professionals, innovators and entrepreneurs.
The partnership also aligns with the College’s evolving institutional direction towards deeper engagement with technology, innovation, entrepreneurship and skills-based education.
For YABATECH, participation in the DTA represents another opportunity to deploy its institutional infrastructure and technical expertise in addressing a national challenge while strengthening its position as a leading hub for digital and technical human-capital development.
Also speaking, the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Abisoye Coker-Odusote, described the academy as an investment in people, knowledge and national capacity.
She said NIMC was committed to providing quality and accessible data to support the Federal Government’s development agenda.
Coker-Odusote stressed the importance of digital identity in enabling Nigerians to securely access opportunities in education, employment, financial services and other components of the digital economy.
She said the DTA would contribute to the creation of digital employment opportunities capable of supporting the development of a one-trillion-dollar economy.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund, Mohammed Muntari Dandutse, urged Nigerian youths to seize the opportunity presented by the academy.
Dandutse said the initiative would help bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical technical proficiency, stressing the importance of equipping young Nigerians with skills that could make them competitive in an increasingly technology-driven world.
He also pledged the commitment of the Senate committee to supporting research and innovation capable of improving the livelihood of Nigerian youths.
Similarly, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, said her ministry was committed to ensuring that Nigerians at home and abroad could take advantage of emerging global opportunities.
She said the DTA complemented the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP), which seeks to connect Nigerian professionals and service providers with international employers and buyers.
According to her, NATEP and its partners recently launched the “Hire from Nigeria” initiative to connect Nigerian professionals to international opportunities, with an ambition to facilitate one million export-linked, digitally enabled jobs by 2027.
Oduwole urged beneficiaries of the DTA to maximise the training opportunity and acquire the skills required to contribute meaningfully to national development.
The Federal Government’s investment in the DTA, experts say, underscores a growing recognition that Nigeria’s greatest competitive advantage in the global digital economy lies not only in physical infrastructure but also in the quality, adaptability and international competitiveness of its human capital.
