More than six thousand youths are set to be trained in digital and vocational skills before the end of this year, to provide them with sustainable livelihood opportunities to address the digital challenges facing Nigeria.
This initiative is organised by the OVL Foundation, in collaboration with various organisations under the programme titled “9ja Youth Drive 2025.”
During a media briefing in the Lekki area of Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer of OVL Foundation, Mrs. Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, explained that the partnership’s goal is to ignite, innovate, inspire, and encourage positive actions within communities to involve youth in decision-making processes related to education, economic growth, and environmental sustainability.
Mrs. Victor-Laniyan noted that Nigeria, with a population exceeding two hundred million—over seventy per cent of whom are under the age of thirty—faces significant challenges in education, particularly due to a curriculum that does not align with the job market’s demands for digital and vocational skills.
She said that the training programme will focus on equipping young Nigerians aged eighteen to forty-five, including women in rural and suburban areas, with the skills and resources necessary to thrive in various sectors, particularly in technology, digital skills, vocational training, and entrepreneurship, thereby promoting sustainable development to tackle these challenges, which hinder Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global job market for both vocational training and digital skills.
Contributing, a member of the Board Advisory of OVL Foundation, Dr. Victor Okahai, pointed out that this year’s International Youth Day will feature a documentary showcasing the accomplishments of Nigerian youths, highlighting the ongoing need for consistent monitoring and entrepreneurship training.
Correspondent Taoreed Abdullahi quotes Mrs. Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan as sharing that the foundation has already trained over two thousand young people in Delta State across various fields, facilitating self-employment and job creation which the event to celebrate the achievements will take place on August 12 to coincide with International Youth Day, while additional training sessions continue across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
Other non governmental organisations that attended the media briefing include Kratos Foundation, IHS Nigeria, and MtPref.
Reporting by Taoreed Abdullahi