The Federal Government is set to commence a new phase of its National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy in Oyo State, with hundreds of young Nigerians targeted for vocational training and digital empowerment.
The Oyo programme, being implemented through the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education, will begin on September 28 and run until October 9, 2026.
The direct training component will involve 200 youths who will receive practical skills designed to improve their employment prospects and help them start or expand small businesses.
The initiative is part of the Federal Government’s broader plan to expand the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
According to the government, the programme is designed to provide young people with practical, marketable skills, start-up tools and opportunities for sustainable livelihoods rather than limiting empowerment to short-term financial support.
Oyo State is serving as the South-West training hub in the current phase of the programme, with participants selected for training in three areas: graphics and artificial intelligence, makeup and fashion designing.
The graphics and artificial intelligence trainees will receive laptops as part of their training support, giving them equipment they can use to continue practising and offering digital services after completing the programme.
Participants in makeup training will receive fully equipped makeup kits intended to help them transition from classroom learning into practical business activities.
Those undergoing fashion-design training will receive sewing machines and starter kits to support their entry into garment production and related entrepreneurial activities.
The Federal Government says the provision of these tools is intended to bridge the gap between acquiring skills and having the basic equipment required to put those skills into use.
The Oyo training is expected to run daily from 9am to 5pm during the programme period, providing participants with intensive practical instruction before the scheduled graduation ceremony.
The graduation and grand finale will take place on October 9, when 500 tablets will also be distributed to young Nigerians as part of the government’s wider digital empowerment drive.
The 500 tablets are separate from the 200 youths undergoing the Oyo vocational training, meaning the wider empowerment effort associated with the programme is expected to reach 700 beneficiaries through the training and digital-device components.
The initiative follows an earlier NPRGS pilot in Abuja, where young Nigerians received training in areas including cybersecurity, web development and solar-energy installation.
The Federal Government said the Abuja pilot generated more than 7,000 applications, which it cited as evidence of strong demand among young Nigerians for practical skills and employment-oriented training.
Following the Abuja pilot, the government announced plans to expand the programme to different geopolitical zones, with training areas selected according to local market demand, relevance and the preferences of beneficiaries.
The broader rollout includes other training hubs such as Enugu and Kebbi, where participants are being trained in areas including makeup, solar-energy installation, fashion designing, graphics and artificial intelligence, and agriculture-related skills.
The government says every participant in the different training tracks will receive a relevant training kit that can support continued practice and entrepreneurship after graduation.
The programme forms part of the administration’s stated strategy of using technical and vocational education to address unemployment and underemployment while encouraging self-employment among young Nigerians.
For the beneficiaries, the combination of training and equipment means they will leave the programme with both newly acquired skills and tools relevant to their chosen areas of work.
The graphics and AI component also reflects the growing importance of digital skills in Nigeria’s employment and entrepreneurship landscape, particularly as businesses increasingly rely on digital content, design and technology services.
The makeup and fashion tracks, meanwhile, are focused on practical trades that can be developed into small businesses serving local markets.
The Federal Government has said the NPRGS ultimately seeks to contribute to its wider goal of lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty through economic opportunities, skills development and targeted social-protection interventions.
With the Oyo phase scheduled to begin on September 28, attention will now turn to the training process, the distribution of the promised start-up tools and the extent to which beneficiaries are able to convert their new skills into sustainable sources of income.