FG Opens Portal for Nationwide Registration of Nigerians Aged 15 to 35
- The federal government launched the National Youth Data Bank to build a comprehensive database of young Nigerians across all sectors
- Minister of Youth Development Ayodele Olawande said the registration drive aims to match youths with employment and skills development opportunities
- Technical partner POGMA Nigeria Limited confirmed that enumerators will be deployed across all 774 local government areas to reach informal communities
PAY ATTENTION: Mark Legit.ng as a preferred source, and our content will appear higher in your Google feed!
Legit.ng journalist Dave Ibemere has over a decade of experience in business journalism, with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.
The federal government has officially launched the National Youth Data Bank (NYDB), a programme to register every Nigerian between the ages of 15 and 35 and build a centralised record of the country's youth population.
Minister of Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande, announced the launch on Tuesday, September 29 in Abuja, saying the database would capture young Nigerians in both the formal and informal sectors, covering fields such as agriculture, sports, technology and the creative industries.
Source: Getty Images
Olawande said the government needed reliable data to understand who young Nigerians are, where they live, what skills they have and what support they require.
He added that the information would directly shape how youth-focused programmes are planned and delivered across the country, DailyTrust reports.
Olawande said:
"We also want to get the formal and the informal youth to make sure that they are part of this. We want everybody."
He was clear that the NYDB is a standing government programme and not one tied to any electoral agenda, adding that the goal is to ensure young Nigerians needing jobs or skills training can be matched with the right interventions.
Registration to cover schools and rural communities
Otunba Oluyinka Akerele, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of POGMA Nigeria Limited, the technical partner on the project, said registration points have already been set up in secondary schools, polytechnics, universities and colleges of education.
He said the exercise would later expand to local government areas and wards nationwide, with enumerators deployed across all 774 LGAs to capture data on youths in informal sectors and hard-to-reach communities.
Akerele said:
"For the Nigerian youth registration, we have created cluster points in schools, polytechnics, universities, College of Education. These are targets for the formal sectors.
"All we appeal to our youth to do is to embrace the programme, go out en masse and be registered."
Source: Getty Images
He confirmed that the age bracket of 15 to 35 follows the Nigerian Youth Policy, and that the database will be updated on a rolling basis as more Nigerians cross the eligibility threshold, Punch reports.
He said:
"For those that are not up to 15, that's why you have an update, just like you have with INEC. Once they are 15, our enumerators are there to capture them."
Akerele called on young Nigerians to take part in the registration, saying it is the primary way the government can identify them and connect them with available opportunities.
Nigerian youths to apply for N250m scholarship, get free laptop
Legit.ng previously reported that Tunde Onakoya, the founder of Chess in Slums Africa, teamed up with Jobs59 and AltSchool Africa to launch a N250 million scholarship initiative designed to equip corps members and recent graduates with digital skills and improve their chances of securing employment.
Under the initiative, each successful applicant will receive N160,000 in funding, comprising N10,000 for the admission application fee and N150,000 toward tuition.
A scholarship can be used to study any eligible diploma programme offered by AltSchool Africa.
Source: Legit.ng
