FG to offer 6-month training programme to address 2m job vacancies– Alausa

The Minister of Education, Dr  Tunji Alausa, has announced that the administration of President Bola Tinubu will offer six months of free skills training to Nigerians to meet the needs of the industry.

This initiative, according to him, is aimed at addressing the 2 million job vacancies in the country.

Alausa said this at the third edition of the 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing Session in Abuja on Thursday.

He also noted that the ministry was implementing measures to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education to meet the country’s skill gaps.

“We are doing this through our Digital Training Academy (DTA), which will equip students with the skills needed to support various industries,” Alausa said.

“According to UNESCO data, there are 650,000 vacancies in software development methodologies, 280,000 in cybersecurity, 160,000 in IT and automation.

Others are 150,000 in AI and machine learning, 120,000 in cloud computing, and about 60,000 vacancies worldwide in natural language processing.

“Altogether, this adds up to almost 2 million job vacancies,” he said.

He further explained that the DTA was currently collaborating with trainers to offer a six-month training programme for young engineers.

“As a government, we will cover the cost of their internet services and provide certification, including Cisco, End of Career, and Google certifications,” he said.

Alausa emphasised that this strategy would help Nigerians gain new digital skills, enabling them to compete globally.

He added that the training programme was expected to be launched on or before June 2025.