By Ogochukwu Isioma
The Social Advancement Forum (SAF) has challenged young people in Nigeria to take advantage of the establishment of the Nigerian Youth Academy (NiYA) to showcase their potential on the global stage.
This, according to the group, is because of the readiness of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to give the young population world-class training in digital literacy, technical skills, entrepreneurship, and the creative industries.
SAF made its position known in a statement signed by its Chairman, Tahir Ibrahim Tahir, and Secretary, Shehu Atta, in the aftermath of the recent launch of the Nigerian Youth Academy (NiYA) in Abuja.
The statement read: “The decision to establish a body like Nigerian Youth Academy (NiYA) is a good one especially as it is focusing on equipping young Nigerians with relevant skills in digital literacy, technical skills, entrepreneurship, and creativity that will take them out of the unemployment market. The aim of NiYA is to bridge the gaps in education and human capital empowerment.
“So we at SAF commend the President’s vision in seeking to equip Nigerian youths with the necessary digital, technical, and entrepreneurial skills to make them compete effectively in the global market.
“For us, the launch of NiYA and the creation of a National Youth Development Bank to facilitate access to capital for young entrepreneurs with digital literacy skills will definitely go a long way to enabling them to establish successful businesses, thereby effectively addressing the skills gap as well as youth unemployment.
“There is no doubt in our mind that these policy measures if properly implemented, can substantially contribute to Nigeria’s socio-economic growth and also facilitate the swift realization of Nigeria’s aspiration to become a one trillion dollar economy by 2030.
“It is against this backdrop that we are calling on the country’s teeming population to take advantage of this opportunity to showcase what they have to offer by tapping into the global skilled service outsourcing industry, which is currently worth about $854 billion.”
The group also tasked those saddled with the responsibility of running the academy to keep to the President’s charge of training and empowering millions of young Nigerians within the next two years.
