The Federal Government says it is expanding its National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy to reach five million Nigerians over the next four years, with 700 young people benefiting from skills training and empowerment support in Oyo State.
The initiative combines vocational education, digital skills and business equipment to help beneficiaries develop income-generating opportunities and establish sustainable livelihoods.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education, Dr Abiola Arogundade, disclosed this at a graduation ceremony held at Kensington Adebutu Hall, University of Ibadan, on Friday.
The programme ran from September 28 to October 9, 2026.
Arogundade said the intervention reflected President Bola Tinubu’s emphasis on providing young Nigerians with practical skills and tools to compete in the labour market rather than relying solely on direct assistance.
“What we want to do, and what the President wants to do, is to move as many people out of poverty as possible,” she said.
“Mr President believes that our young people do not simply need assistance. They need opportunity. They need skills. They need the tools to compete and build sustainable livelihoods. And that is what today represents.”
AI, fashion and vocational skills
Under the Oyo programme, 30 participants received specialised instruction in artificial intelligence and graphics design, while 85 were trained in make-up artistry and another 85 in fashion design.
The 200 trainees received equipment relevant to their chosen fields, while a further 500 participants were earmarked to receive digital devices to support their participation in the digital economy.
The intervention therefore reached 700 beneficiaries through training and device support, rather than providing the same vocational course to all 700.
Beneficiaries received items including laptops, make-up kits, sewing machines and digital tablets, depending on their training areas and the support provided.
Arogundade urged the graduates to apply their newly acquired skills, build businesses and share their knowledge with others in their communities.
“What you receive today is not the destination. It is the beginning. Take the skills you have learnt. Take the tools you have received, and build something with them,” she said.
She encouraged beneficiaries to train others and extend the programme’s impact beyond those who directly participated.
“Don’t use it as a one-man solution or one-man empowerment. There’s a multiplier effect. Train your neighbours, train your community people, and also continue to impact and learn more,” she added.
Speakers stress entrepreneurship
The keynote speaker and principal consultant, Mrs Oluronke Shonubi, said artificial intelligence training was increasingly important as major economies adopted the technology across industries, including manufacturing, agriculture and automobile production.
Make-up artistry instructor Rukayat Muhammad said beneficiaries could use the skills acquired to establish businesses and achieve financial independence if they continued to improve their craft and market their services effectively.
She urged the trainees to treat the equipment provided as an investment in their economic future.
Addressing participants, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State, Sharafadeen Alli, described the intervention as an opportunity for beneficiaries to build sustainable businesses and create employment.
Alli encouraged the graduates to apply their skills, develop their competencies and use the equipment to establish enterprises capable of generating income for themselves and others.
One beneficiary, identified in the supplied report as Olaleye Idowu, a 400-level International Relations student at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, said the AI and graphics design training had introduced him to the technology’s fundamentals and potential applications.
National poverty reduction target
The Oyo programme forms part of the Federal Government’s broader National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy, which aims to promote economic independence through skills acquisition, entrepreneurship and access to income-generating opportunities.
The Presidency has described the initiative as part of its effort to lift five million young Nigerians out of poverty over four years. The broader national strategy also includes a long-term ambition to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within 10 years.
However, the number of people trained or provided with equipment is not, by itself, evidence that beneficiaries have permanently exited poverty. The programme’s longer-term impact will depend on whether participants can turn their skills and equipment into sustainable income.
Dignitaries at the graduation ceremony included Senator Yunus Akintunde, who represents Oyo Central; Oyo State APC Women Leader and Tinubu Torch Bearers coordinator, Dr Adekemi Opatunde; and South-West Federal Constituency coordinator, Hon. Folake Olunloyo-Oshinowo.
