Alausa: Nigeria must train talent for global jobs
By Uji A Iliyasu, Abuja
The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, has said Nigeria must reposition its education and skills system to produce trained, certified and adaptable workers capable of competing in the global outsourcing and digitally enabled services market.
Alausa spoke at the Hire From Nigeria side event held on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he outlined the Federal Ministry of Education’s role in developing the talent pipeline required to support Nigeria’s emerging talent-export agenda.
He said Nigeria’s youthful population, English-language advantage, cultural adaptability and growing digital capabilities provided a strong foundation for participation in the global outsourcing economy.
“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.
According to the minister, the global outsourcing and digitally enabled services sector could create jobs, increase export earnings and enable Nigerians to build international careers without necessarily leaving the country
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He, however, identified the mismatch between training and changing employer demands, limited work-based learning opportunities and inadequate access to internationally recognised certification as challenges requiring urgent attention.
Alausa said the ministry was addressing the gaps through curriculum reform, stronger accreditation and quality assurance, as well as expanded digital and technical training in partnership with federal institutions and credible private training providers.
“We need a permanent employer-led feedback loop, not occasional curriculum reviews,” he said, calling for employers to participate in programme design, training, assessment, certification and recruitment.
The minister also said the government was working to change perceptions of technical and vocational education by presenting skills acquisition as a pathway to employment, entrepreneurship and global opportunities.
He disclosed that the Federal Government’s free Technical and Vocational Education and Training 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.
Alausa said the government was promoting multiple pathways to employment and enterprise, including university education, TVET, apprenticeships and continuous professional development.
He added that preparing young Nigerians for an economy increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence and advanced technologies remained a priority.
“We must train young people to work with artificial intelligence, not to compete with it on routine tasks,” he said.
He identified skills such as critical judgement, creativity, domain knowledge, data literacy, cybersecurity, cloud services, software development, customer success, quality assurance and AI-enabled operations as increasingly important in the changing labour market.
The minister said the Federal Government, through the 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 including product management, cloud computing, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and machine learning, financial technology, quantum computing, natural language processing and other emerging technologies.
Alausa also highlighted the Student Venture Capital Grant, which supports students in STEMM disciplines to transform innovative ideas into viable businesses.
He urged international employers, Business Process Outsourcing operators, investors and development partners to move beyond expressions of interest and establish practical partnerships capable of creating sustainable talent pipelines.
He called on employers to define their skills requirements, co-design training programmes, provide work-based learning opportunities, recognise credible Nigerian certifications and recruit from Nigerian talent pools.
He also urged BPO operators and investors to establish delivery centres beyond the country’s major commercial cities while supporting training infrastructure, connectivity, quality assurance and management capacity.
He said development partners can contribute through scalable certification programmes, instructor development, inclusion of women and underserved communities, labour-market intelligence and systems for measuring employment outcomes.
Alausa said the ministry would deepen industry participation in curriculum development and certification, expand market-relevant TVET and digital skills programmes, strengthen accreditation and quality assurance, and improve links between institutions, training providers and employers.
He said the initiatives formed part of the ministry’s role on the supply side of the National Talent Export Programme, which targets one million export-linked jobs and 10 million globally certified Nigerians by 2030.
Alausa reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to 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,” he said.