The Federal Government has set a target of producing 10 million globally certified Nigerians by 2030 as part of efforts to position the country as a major player in the global outsourcing and digitally enabled services market.
Minister of Education, Dr Olatunji Alausa, disclosed this at the Hire From Nigeria side event held on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to a statement issued on Sunday by the Special Adviser to the Minister on Media and Communications, Mr Ikharo Attah.
Alausa said the Federal Ministry of Education was repositioning the nation’s education and skills system to produce trained, certified and adaptable talent capable of meeting global labour-market demands.
He said Nigeria’s large youthful population, English-language advantage, cultural adaptability and growing digital capabilities provided a strong foundation for participation in the global outsourcing economy.
According to him, the sector presented opportunities to create jobs, increase export earnings and enable Nigerians to build globally sourced careers without leaving the country.
“Nigeria’s greatest asset is its people: a young, ambitious, English-speaking and increasingly digitally capable population. Our task in Education is to turn that scale into verified competence and reliable service delivery,” he said.
The minister, however, identified the mismatch between training and evolving employer demands, limited work-based learning opportunities and inadequate access to internationally recognised certification as challenges that must be addressed.
He said the ministry was responding through curriculum reform, stronger accreditation and quality assurance, as well as expanded digital and technical training through federal institutions and credible private training providers.
“We need a permanent employer-led feedback loop, not occasional curriculum reviews,” Alausa said, stressing the need for employers to participate in programme design, training, assessment, certification and recruitment.
He said the government was also working to change perceptions of technical and vocational education by positioning skills training as a pathway to income, enterprise and global employment opportunities.
Alausa disclosed that the Federal Government’s free Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme had attracted more than one million applications, with 160,000 trainees supported through about 1,200 centres nationwide, including Federal Technical Colleges and accredited private training centres.
He said the government was promoting multiple pathways to employment and enterprise, including university education, TVET, apprenticeships and continuous upskilling.
The minister also stressed the need to prepare young Nigerians for an economy increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and advanced technologies.
“We must train young people to work with artificial intelligence, not to compete with it on routine tasks,” he said.
He said emphasis would increasingly be placed on skills that complement technology, including judgement, creativity, domain knowledge, data literacy, cybersecurity, cloud services, software development, customer success, quality assurance and AI-enabled operations.
Alausa said the Federal Government, through its Digital Training Academy, was partnering with global learning providers, including Coursera and Pluralsight, to provide 32,000 Nigerians with free access to professional digital and technology training.
He said the programme covered areas such as product management, cloud computing, cybersecurity, information technology automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning, agentic AI, fintech, parallel computing, quantum computing and natural language processing.
He added that the Student Venture Capital Grant was supporting students in STEMM disciplines to transform innovative ideas into viable enterprises, thereby strengthening the link between education, innovation and enterprise.
Alausa called on international employers, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) operators, investors and development partners to move beyond expressions of interest, establish practical partnerships and invest in talent pipelines.
He urged employers to define their skills requirements, co-design training programmes, provide work-based learning, recognise credible Nigerian certifications, recruit from Nigerian talent pools and provide feedback on workforce performance.
He also called on BPO operators and investors to establish delivery centres beyond the country’s largest commercial cities while supporting training infrastructure, connectivity, quality systems and management capacity.
According to him, development partners could support the initiative through scalable certification, instructor development, the inclusion of women and underserved communities, labour-market intelligence and outcome measurement that tracks employment rather than training numbers alone.
He said international institutional partnerships and centres of excellence in Nigerian institutions would further strengthen global linkages, benchmarking and knowledge transfer.
Alausa said the Federal Ministry of Education would deepen industry participation in curriculum development and certification, expand market-relevant TVET and digital-skills pathways, strengthen accreditation and quality assurance, and improve links between institutions, training providers and employers.
He said the measures formed part of the ministry’s role on the supply side of the National Talent Export Programme, which supports the national ambition of creating one million export-linked jobs and 10 million globally certified Nigerians by 2030.
He added that the ministry was leading the Supply Technical Working Group under the programme.
The minister reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to aligning education reforms with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly its focus on human capital development, job creation, skills acquisition and inclusive economic growth.
“Under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, our commitment is clear: we will continue to invest in the skills, knowledge and innovation of our young people and build an education system that gives Nigerian talent the capacity and confidence to compete and succeed anywhere in the world,” Alausa said.
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