WorldStage— The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, has said Nigeria is repositioning its education and skills system to produce trained, certified and adaptable talent capable of competing in the global outsourcing and digitally enabled services market.
Alausa stated this at the Hire From Nigeria side event on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he outlined the Federal Ministry of Education’s role as the supply engine of the national talent-export agenda and its efforts to build a talent pipeline directly connected to global employment opportunities.
“Nigeria’s greatest asset is its people: a young, ambitious, English-speaking and increasingly digitally capable population. Our task in Education is to turn that scale into verified competence and reliable service delivery,” the Minister said.
He said Nigeria’s large youthful population, English-language advantage, cultural adaptability and growing digital capabilities provide a strong foundation for participation in the global outsourcing and digitally enabled services economy.
According to him, the sector offers opportunities to create jobs, increase export earnings and enable Nigerians to build globally sourced careers without leaving the country.
Alausa said education was central to making that opportunity sustainable, noting that skills, quality and reliability would determine Nigeria’s competitiveness in a rapidly changing global market.
He identified the gap between training and evolving employer demand, limited work-based learning opportunities and access to internationally recognised certification as some of the challenges that must be addressed.
To close the gap, the Federal Ministry of Education is pursuing curriculum reform, stronger accreditation and quality assurance, as well as expanded digital and technical training through federal institutions and credible private training providers.
“We need a permanent employer-led feedback loop, not occasional curriculum reviews,” Alausa said, stressing that employers should be involved from programme design through training, assessment, certification and recruitment.
The Minister said the reform agenda also seeks to change perceptions of technical and vocational education by positioning skills training as a direct pathway to income, enterprise and global opportunity.
He disclosed that the Federal Government’s free TVET programme has attracted more than one million applications with 160,000 trainees supported through approximately 1,200 centres nationwide, including Federal Technical Colleges and accredited private training centres.
The Government is also promoting multiple pathways to employment and enterprise, including university education, technical and vocational education, apprenticeships and continuous upskilling, with each pathway providing opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship and further learning.
Alausa said preparing young Nigerians for an economy increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and advanced technologies was another priority.
“We must train young people to work with artificial intelligence, not to compete with it on routine tasks.”
