Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) has emerged as a strategic hub in the Federal Government’s drive to equip more than 32,000 Nigerians with globally relevant digital skills under its newly launched Digital Training Academy (DTA).
The initiative, backed by more than N10.5 billion in Federal Government funding, is designed to bridge Nigeria’s digital skills gap, improve employability and connect young Nigerians to opportunities in the rapidly expanding global digital economy.
The academy was officially launched in Abuja on Monday by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa.
Under the partnership, YABATECH, working with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), will provide study centres, internet access and facilitators to support beneficiaries of the programme.
The arrangement is particularly significant for young Nigerians who may have the ambition to acquire digital skills but lack personal computers, reliable internet connectivity or suitable environments for online learning.
By providing physical learning centres and technical support, the Federal Government said the programme would make digital education more accessible to Nigerians beyond those who already have access to sophisticated digital infrastructure.
The DTA is designed to move beyond conventional classroom learning by connecting Nigerian talents to world-class learning, international certification, productive work, entrepreneurship and national development.
According to Alausa, beneficiaries will undergo six months of intensive digital training through leading global learning platforms, including Coursera and Pluralsight, with opportunities to obtain internationally recognised certifications from global technology companies.
The programme will focus on critical areas of the digital economy, including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, fintech, product management and quantum computing.
Alausa said the ultimate objective was to equip Nigerians with skills that would enable them secure employment and provide professional services to companies and clients around the world without necessarily leaving the country.
“Today, we’re not merely unveiling an online learning portal. We’re opening a new pathway to opportunities for thousands of Nigerians,” he said.
The minister added that the programme represented a practical expression of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI).
The DTA will also provide a pathway for beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme to acquire international certifications and strengthen their competitiveness in the global labour market.
The inclusion of YABATECH further reinforces the institution’s growing role in Nigeria’s technical, vocational and digital education ecosystem.
With its longstanding experience in technical education, practical skills development and industry-oriented training, the College is strategically positioned to support efforts to transform young Nigerians from conventional job seekers into globally competitive professionals, innovators and entrepreneurs.
For YABATECH, participation in the DTA provides an opportunity to deploy its infrastructure and technical expertise in addressing a major national challenge while strengthening its position as a leading hub for digital and technical human-capital development.
Also speaking, the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Abisoye Coker-Odusote, described the academy as an investment in people, knowledge and national capacity.
She said NIMC remained committed to providing quality and accessible data to support the Federal Government’s development agenda, stressing the importance of digital identity in enabling Nigerians to securely access opportunities in education, employment, financial services and other areas of the digital economy.
Coker-Odusote said the DTA could contribute to the creation of digital employment opportunities capable of supporting the development of a one-trillion-dollar economy.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund, Mohammed Muntari Dandutse, urged Nigerian youths to seize the opportunity provided by the academy.
Dandutse said the initiative would help bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical technical proficiency, stressing that young Nigerians needed skills that could make them competitive in an increasingly technology-driven world.
He also pledged the commitment of the Senate committee to supporting research and innovation aimed at improving the livelihoods of Nigerian youths.
Similarly, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, said her ministry was committed to ensuring that Nigerians at home and abroad could take advantage of emerging global opportunities.
She said the DTA complemented the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP), which seeks to connect Nigerian professionals and service providers with international employers and buyers.
According to Oduwole, NATEP and its partners recently launched the “Hire from Nigeria” initiative to connect Nigerian professionals with international opportunities, with an ambition to facilitate one million export-linked, digitally enabled jobs by 2027.
Oduwole urged DTA beneficiaries to maximise the training opportunity and acquire skills that would enable them contribute meaningfully to national development.
The Federal Government’s investment in the N10.5 billion Digital Training Academy underscores the growing recognition that Nigeria’s strength in the global digital economy will depend not only on physical infrastructure but also on the quality, adaptability and international competitiveness of its human capital.
With more than 32,000 Nigerians targeted for training, and YABATECH providing physical access, connectivity and facilitators, the initiative offers a potentially significant pathway for young Nigerians to move from seeking jobs locally to competing for digital opportunities in the global labour market.