Globally, poverty reduction has become a major objective of governments, with priority attention focused on the welfare of the poor and most vulnerable.
In Nigeria, the federal government, at various times, initiated some programmes to uplift the socio-economic status of the poor. One of such programmes is the National Social Investments Programme (NSIP) initiated as a strategy for poverty reduction and enhancement of social inclusion.
In 2016, the Muhammadu Buhari administration launched the N-Power programme as part of the Federal Government’s efforts to reduce high unemployment rates in Nigeria and provide a lifeline for millions of youths. It was part of a broader social investment programme and promised to empower graduates and non-graduates by offering them temporary employment and skills training, through volunteering services.
The scheme, which took off as a lofty home-grown youth scheme, provided temporary income-generating opportunities for over 500,000 unemployed youths.
Sadly, the programme, over the years failed to fulfil its primary objective of providing sustainable employment opportunities for Nigerian youths, losing the initial enthusiasm, as it could not address some underlying issues, such as the high rate of youth unemployment that is still plaguing the nation.
Some of the identifiable challenges that have negatively impacted the N-Power Scheme’s ability to realise its set objectives have been bribery and corruption, favouritism, poor recruitment process, delayed payment of stipends to beneficiaries as at when due, poor monitoring and evaluation, lack of feedback mechanism to identify areas for improvements as well as weaknesses towards ensuring better outcomes, and lack of transparency and accountability within the Scheme.
Other challenges include lack of a comprehensive job placement support system to link graduands of the N-Power Scheme with employment opportunities, and lack of adequate infrastructural support necessary for successful integration of beneficiaries into the workforce. Some participants were assigned to sectors as education and agriculture, among others, that were already battling with unemployment. Faced with these challenges, the participants could not adequately contribute in a sustainable way.
Another issue with the scheme has been insufficient positions to accommodate the high number of applicants. Also, the skills acquired by some beneficiaries of the Scheme were not compatible with the current demands in the job market, a situation that hindered them from securing sustainable employment at the end of the training.
At different times and in a bid to address these challenges, the federal government had restructured and revamped the Scheme to respond to the peculiarities, to ensure the right beneficiaries are targeted, enhance impact on the beneficiaries, touch more lives and lift more Nigerians above the poverty line.
In 2023, the federal government said it was revamping the N-Power Scheme to include more beneficiaries, while it also said the redesigned N-Power Scheme would also create jobs for at least five million youths in the country. Despite this, the Scheme still has some challenges.
Few days ago, the federal government, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said the Scheme is undergoing a comprehensive reform that would overhaul the Scheme as part of a broader strategy to enhance job creation and economic empowerment, particularly for women and vulnerable groups, as well as to enhance youth empowerment and economic growth.
It is expected that the ongoing revamping of the N-Power Scheme would shift its focus from traditional training to industry-relevant skills that connect participants directly to the labour market.
According to President Tinubu’s Special Assistant on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, who made this known, the training programmes would now align with private sector needs to ensure that young Nigerians gain skills that are in high demand in the labour market.
As part of the transformation, President Tinubu has procured over 100,000 empowerment items and allocated N32.7 billion for the NSIP in 2025. The funding is to facilitate skill development, credit access, and other initiatives aimed at reducing unemployment and drive economic growth. Additionally, it is expected to introduce cooperative clusters, offer low-interest loans of N300,000 to N400,000 to help aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners to scale up their ventures.
“As Nigeria enters 2025, this reform marks a significant step in reshaping youth empowerment, ensuring that skills development translates into real economic opportunities. With a focus on inclusivity and long-term impact, the N-Power Scheme is set to become a transformative force for Nigeria’s workforce and economy,” Olusegun said.
It is only proactive measures and strategic steps by the Federal Government to address the unemployment issues, enhance skills acquisition, provide supportive framework to bridge the gap between education and employment as well as promote job creation that would provide sustainable employment for the nation’s teeming youths and guarantee a brighter future. If this is done, it would ease the economic hardships faced by Nigerians and empower more citizens to achieve financial independence.
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