The Federal Government has set measures in place to equip 200,000 youths with basic, intermediate and advanced digital skills including areas of web design and management, software training and cloud computing in the next two years.
The Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Dare made this known at the 2019 Africa Youth Day celebration with the theme “ One Million by 2021, Count Me In.” in Abuja.
He said youths would also be equipped with Artificial Intelligence, App development, mobile device repairs, coding and data processing skills.
According to News Agency Nigeria, Dare said the project was inspired by the desire to mobilize at least one million youths to be among the one million Africans who would benefit from direct opportunities in the areas of Education, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Engagement (4Es).
He added that though November, 1 was observed as African Youth Day, having been recognised and adopted since June 2006 by African Heads of Government at their meeting in Banjul, Gambia.
The minister explained that African governments have in the past invested substantially on infrastructure and economic reforms, neglecting the human development.
He said "it is important that governments in Africa continue to place the need for increased investments in youths on the front burner.
"I, therefore, commend the African Union for the theme ‘One Million by 2021, Count Me In’ as this will opens opportunities for young people to take personal stake in their development, and in a broader sense, that of the continent."
"decades of these investments still leave us in search of more effective ways to attain our development goals. For me, I believe the way to go is to tilt the scale", he added.
"The cost implication of increasing investment in youth is minimal, when compared with the enormous resources most countries in Africa expend to mitigate the impact of poor investments in youths, peace, security and economies.
"Therefore, many experts believe that if not adequately harnessed, youths could become demographic time bomb rather than resource because a large mass of frustrated young people would likely become potential source of social and political instability.
"It is from this context that I commend the African Union for the theme," Dare said.
The minister announced that Nigeria is also celebrating the launch of the National Youth Policy (NYP) and the National Youth Policy App, as well as the commencement of the new Digital Literacy and Skill Acquisition Programme, Employment, and Leadership and mentoring (DEEL) initiative for the Youths.
Dare said that the ministry would work toward sustaining an ecosystem of state and non-state actors in each thematic area of the National Youth Policy, which would evolve into the National Youth Policy Implementation Network.
He also disclosed that the ministry would activate its Youth Development Centres in the country for Entrepreneurship Skills trainings.
The Minister of State, Science and Technology, Malam Mohammed Abdullahi, said that the two ministries would collaborate to ensure that the country achieved its youths agenda.
Speaking, Abdullahi said that the most important areas where any country could dedicate more work to achieve better development was communication and technology, reiterating the need to look inward to solve youth's problems.
The Minister of Woman Affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen, who spoke among other ministers encouraged youths to embrace the Not-Too-Young- To-Run Act to understand what politics was all about.
Tallen said that the ministry would work to ensure that youths were carried along to enable them to achieve their goals.
