The federal government has unveiled plans to transform Nigeria into a hub for digital innovation and exportable tech talent, signaling a major shift in the nation’s economic direction.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony of 35 youths from a digital skills training programme in Abuja, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda Gashwer, said Nigeria is preparing to export digital skills in the same way it exports crude oil.
“This programme, under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was not designed to hand out aid but to hand over agency,” Gashwer said. “The future we envision is not one where people wait to be rescued, but where they rise to become solution creators, job makers, and wealth builders.”
The training, jointly organised by the ministry and the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), equipped participants with high-impact skills such as Web Application Design, Graphic Design, and Image Editing.
“You are not just graduates; you are the vanguard of a new Nigeria — a Nigeria where young people do not flee from poverty but defeat it with knowledge,” Gashwer said. “A Nigeria where digital skills are exported like oil; where we are no longer consumers of technology, but creators of it.”
The minister also revealed plans to establish community tech hubs and develop online platforms to connect Nigerian talent with local and global opportunities. He stressed that funding pathways would be created to help turn innovative ideas into real-world products.
President and CEO of DBI, David Daser, echoed the Minister’s sentiments, saying that Nigeria’s future depends on empowering its youth with practical, income-generating skills.
“These are not just technical skills,” Daser stated. “They are tools of transformation, pathways to independence, creativity, and sustainable livelihood.”
He added that the initiative, themed “Skills for Empowerment,” has extended beyond Abuja to DBI campuses in Enugu, Lagos, Yola, and Kano — ensuring wider national reach.
Daser encouraged the graduates to view their certificates not as a finish line, but as the beginning of a journey toward innovation and value creation. He reaffirmed DBI’s commitment to bridging the digital divide and reducing poverty through capacity building and strategic partnerships.
“The global economy is being rewritten in code, driven by data, and powered by creativity,” Gashwer said. “Digital skills are now the foundation of economic power worldwide.”
