By Chukwudi Nweje
President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has put in place over 25 youth-focused programmes aimed at making youths entrepreneurs.
Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, who made the disclosure in Lagos, at the weekend, said the administration has shifted its approach to youth empowerment from giving of stipends to training and investing in the youths to become entrepreneurs and employers of labour.
Some of the programmes under the ministry include The Digital Youth Nigeria (DY.NG) initiative, a programme aimed at equipping one million Nigerian youths with digital skills in five critical areas, to ensure they are fully employable, competitive and can self-start or be-self-employed.
There is also the Nigerian Youths Investment Fund (NYIF), a N75 billion annual funding pathway sponsored by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), aimed at funding and supporting the innovative ideas, skills, talents and enterprise of the Nigerian Youth.
Others include the National Youth Employment Action Plan, among others.
The minister said: “These digital skills will be applicable not only in the information technology (IT) industry, but also in agriculture, health, education, sports, science and technology and environment. The ministry seeks to make entrepreneurs of the youth by providing opportunities for training and making available loans for the start-ups and SMEs in diverse fields.