Tinubu: Turning the tide of youth unemployment

The major question for the incoming government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be the youth question. How can we get this army of Nigerian critical stakeholders productive? The ‘significant population of highly skilled trained criminals’ prophecy which has been rearing its ugly head in many areas of our nation must be aborted with non-rhetorical resolve this time.

To start with, Asiwaju Tinubu must take a look at China over 30 years ago under the leadership of President Deng when China was confronted with an army of frustrated unemployed youths. Deng, after a thorough analysis of global trends, particularly in tradable skills, decided to focus on university education with emphasis on science and Information Technology (IT).

Today China produces over 50% motorcycles and over 30% of personal computers globally. The country churns out 350,000 engineering and computer specialists annually, registering three times more patent applications than the US.  Just recently, another batch of Chinese astronauts returned to earth from the moon; and not too long ago too, Nigeria obtained over a billion-dollar loan from China for infrastructural development.

In the 1960s, Singapore and Nigeria used to be at par, with each having a $300 per capita income. But today, the gap in standard of living between the two countries is so wide. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong once declared, “there will be no barrier to knowledge, information and lifelong learning. Our universities maintain open access, but rigorous academic standards, our Polytechnics impart professional expertise through a practice-based curriculum, and our institute of technical education equips students with hands-on technical skills and critical thinking habits. We are also investing in upgrading the skills of the workforce, keeping older workers current and employable. On an intelligent Island, every pair of hands has to be a pair of thinking hands. None should be hewers of wood or drawers of water.”

Nigeria was far better than Costa Rica in the 60s when our youths were productively at optimum, but today the country has successfully transitioned from a banana republic to a regional IT power hub, just over a period of ten consistent years of planning and execution. Arias, a Nobel Laureate and former President of Costa Rica declared thus, “in 1998, while I was President, our government installed computers in elementary schools.” Since then, the programme has reached over 1.5 million students, more than half of whom live in underprivileged areas. Exactly ten years after the first computer was installed, Intel, opened a $500 million micro chip plant in San Jose. Among the attractions Intel cited was the availability of an educated workforce. Today, Costa Rica’s 12% GDP comes from software sales, and it is the third most competitive outsourcing destination in the world after China and India, vying for a piece of the global IT outsourcing market worth more than $50 billion.

Nigeria has the requisite market potential and is not a greenhorn in global development trends, but what we have been lacking and which the next administration must tackle is the dearth of infrastructure and enabling environment for businesses, particularly the start-ups, to thrive. Luckily Asiwaju, in his manifesto, has promised easy access to credit, business mentorship, NYSC Reform, and business incubation centres, among other things, as parts of plans to reduce unemployment from the current high to 11.9 million by 2026.

The ‘Endsars’ protest of 2020 and the recent waves of obedient movement across Nigeria are clear pointers to how disruptive to established systems the youths of any nation can be whenever they become formidable. The time is very ripe for the incoming administration to take advantage of this pool of resource to cash out heavily and produce more people like Dozy Mmobuosi, who is about completing a 90-million-pound takeover of Sheffield United Football Club in England, or Shola Akinlade, the co-founder of Paystack, who already bought 55% of a Danish football club, Aarhus Fremad.

There are many of such great Nigerian youths shattering the glass ceiling in various careers, especially abroad. However, the number is just too small; a very tiny drop in a very vast ocean. May the hope of millions of the Nigerian youths be renewed, and that renewed hope rests squarely on the presidency of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

•Dr Bello writes from Abuja

The major question for the incoming government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be the youth question. How can we get this army of Nigerian critical stakeholders productive? The ‘significant population of highly skilled trained criminals’ prophecy which has been rearing its ugly head in many areas of our nation must be aborted with non-rhetorical resolve this time.

To start with, Asiwaju Tinubu must take a look at China over 30 years ago under the leadership of President Deng when China was confronted with an army of frustrated unemployed youths. Deng, after a thorough analysis of global trends, particularly in tradable skills, decided to focus on university education with emphasis on science and Information Technology (IT).

Today China produces over 50% motorcycles and over 30% of personal computers globally. The country churns out 350,000 engineering and computer specialists annually, registering three times more patent applications than the US.  Just recently, another batch of Chinese astronauts returned to earth from the moon; and not too long ago too, Nigeria obtained over a billion-dollar loan from China for infrastructural development.

In the 1960s, Singapore and Nigeria used to be at par, with each having a $300 per capita income. But today, the gap in standard of living between the two countries is so wide. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong once declared, “there will be no barrier to knowledge, information and lifelong learning. Our universities maintain open access, but rigorous academic standards, our Polytechnics impart professional expertise through a practice-based curriculum, and our institute of technical education equips students with hands-on technical skills and critical thinking habits. We are also investing in upgrading the skills of the workforce, keeping older workers current and employable. On an intelligent Island, every pair of hands has to be a pair of thinking hands. None should be hewers of wood or drawers of water.”

Nigeria was far better than Costa Rica in the 60s when our youths were productively at optimum, but today the country has successfully transitioned from a banana republic to a regional IT power hub, just over a period of ten consistent years of planning and execution. Arias, a Nobel Laureate and former President of Costa Rica declared thus, “in 1998, while I was President, our government installed computers in elementary schools.” Since then, the programme has reached over 1.5 million students, more than half of whom live in underprivileged areas. Exactly ten years after the first computer was installed, Intel, opened a $500 million micro chip plant in San Jose. Among the attractions Intel cited was the availability of an educated workforce. Today, Costa Rica’s 12% GDP comes from software sales, and it is the third most competitive outsourcing destination in the world after China and India, vying for a piece of the global IT outsourcing market worth more than $50 billion.

Nigeria has the requisite market potential and is not a greenhorn in global development trends, but what we have been lacking and which the next administration must tackle is the dearth of infrastructure and enabling environment for businesses, particularly the start-ups, to thrive. Luckily Asiwaju, in his manifesto, has promised easy access to credit, business mentorship, NYSC Reform, and business incubation centres, among other things, as parts of plans to reduce unemployment from the current high to 11.9 million by 2026.

The ‘Endsars’ protest of 2020 and the recent waves of obedient movement across Nigeria are clear pointers to how disruptive to established systems the youths of any nation can be whenever they become formidable. The time is very ripe for the incoming administration to take advantage of this pool of resource to cash out heavily and produce more people like Dozy Mmobuosi, who is about completing a 90-million-pound takeover of Sheffield United Football Club in England, or Shola Akinlade, the co-founder of Paystack, who already bought 55% of a Danish football club, Aarhus Fremad.

There are many of such great Nigerian youths shattering the glass ceiling in various careers, especially abroad. However, the number is just too small; a very tiny drop in a very vast ocean. May the hope of millions of the Nigerian youths be renewed, and that renewed hope rests squarely on the presidency of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

•Dr Bello writes from Abuja

The major question for the incoming government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be the youth question. How can we get this army of Nigerian critical stakeholders productive? The ‘significant population of highly skilled trained criminals’ prophecy which has been rearing its ugly head in many areas of our nation must be aborted with non-rhetorical resolve this time.

To start with, Asiwaju Tinubu must take a look at China over 30 years ago under the leadership of President Deng when China was confronted with an army of frustrated unemployed youths. Deng, after a thorough analysis of global trends, particularly in tradable skills, decided to focus on university education with emphasis on science and Information Technology (IT).

Today China produces over 50% motorcycles and over 30% of personal computers globally. The country churns out 350,000 engineering and computer specialists annually, registering three times more patent applications than the US.  Just recently, another batch of Chinese astronauts returned to earth from the moon; and not too long ago too, Nigeria obtained over a billion-dollar loan from China for infrastructural development.

In the 1960s, Singapore and Nigeria used to be at par, with each having a $300 per capita income. But today, the gap in standard of living between the two countries is so wide. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong once declared, “there will be no barrier to knowledge, information and lifelong learning. Our universities maintain open access, but rigorous academic standards, our Polytechnics impart professional expertise through a practice-based curriculum, and our institute of technical education equips students with hands-on technical skills and critical thinking habits. We are also investing in upgrading the skills of the workforce, keeping older workers current and employable. On an intelligent Island, every pair of hands has to be a pair of thinking hands. None should be hewers of wood or drawers of water.”

Nigeria was far better than Costa Rica in the 60s when our youths were productively at optimum, but today the country has successfully transitioned from a banana republic to a regional IT power hub, just over a period of ten consistent years of planning and execution. Arias, a Nobel Laureate and former President of Costa Rica declared thus, “in 1998, while I was President, our government installed computers in elementary schools.” Since then, the programme has reached over 1.5 million students, more than half of whom live in underprivileged areas. Exactly ten years after the first computer was installed, Intel, opened a $500 million micro chip plant in San Jose. Among the attractions Intel cited was the availability of an educated workforce. Today, Costa Rica’s 12% GDP comes from software sales, and it is the third most competitive outsourcing destination in the world after China and India, vying for a piece of the global IT outsourcing market worth more than $50 billion.

Nigeria has the requisite market potential and is not a greenhorn in global development trends, but what we have been lacking and which the next administration must tackle is the dearth of infrastructure and enabling environment for businesses, particularly the start-ups, to thrive. Luckily Asiwaju, in his manifesto, has promised easy access to credit, business mentorship, NYSC Reform, and business incubation centres, among other things, as parts of plans to reduce unemployment from the current high to 11.9 million by 2026.

The ‘Endsars’ protest of 2020 and the recent waves of obedient movement across Nigeria are clear pointers to how disruptive to established systems the youths of any nation can be whenever they become formidable. The time is very ripe for the incoming administration to take advantage of this pool of resource to cash out heavily and produce more people like Dozy Mmobuosi, who is about completing a 90-million-pound takeover of Sheffield United Football Club in England, or Shola Akinlade, the co-founder of Paystack, who already bought 55% of a Danish football club, Aarhus Fremad.

There are many of such great Nigerian youths shattering the glass ceiling in various careers, especially abroad. However, the number is just too small; a very tiny drop in a very vast ocean. May the hope of millions of the Nigerian youths be renewed, and that renewed hope rests squarely on the presidency of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

•Dr Bello writes from Abuja

The major question for the incoming government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be the youth question. How can we get this army of Nigerian critical stakeholders productive? The ‘significant population of highly skilled trained criminals’ prophecy which has been rearing its ugly head in many areas of our nation must be aborted with non-rhetorical resolve this time.

To start with, Asiwaju Tinubu must take a look at China over 30 years ago under the leadership of President Deng when China was confronted with an army of frustrated unemployed youths. Deng, after a thorough analysis of global trends, particularly in tradable skills, decided to focus on university education with emphasis on science and Information Technology (IT).

Today China produces over 50% motorcycles and over 30% of personal computers globally. The country churns out 350,000 engineering and computer specialists annually, registering three times more patent applications than the US.  Just recently, another batch of Chinese astronauts returned to earth from the moon; and not too long ago too, Nigeria obtained over a billion-dollar loan from China for infrastructural development.

In the 1960s, Singapore and Nigeria used to be at par, with each having a $300 per capita income. But today, the gap in standard of living between the two countries is so wide. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong once declared, “there will be no barrier to knowledge, information and lifelong learning. Our universities maintain open access, but rigorous academic standards, our Polytechnics impart professional expertise through a practice-based curriculum, and our institute of technical education equips students with hands-on technical skills and critical thinking habits. We are also investing in upgrading the skills of the workforce, keeping older workers current and employable. On an intelligent Island, every pair of hands has to be a pair of thinking hands. None should be hewers of wood or drawers of water.”

Nigeria was far better than Costa Rica in the 60s when our youths were productively at optimum, but today the country has successfully transitioned from a banana republic to a regional IT power hub, just over a period of ten consistent years of planning and execution. Arias, a Nobel Laureate and former President of Costa Rica declared thus, “in 1998, while I was President, our government installed computers in elementary schools.” Since then, the programme has reached over 1.5 million students, more than half of whom live in underprivileged areas. Exactly ten years after the first computer was installed, Intel, opened a $500 million micro chip plant in San Jose. Among the attractions Intel cited was the availability of an educated workforce. Today, Costa Rica’s 12% GDP comes from software sales, and it is the third most competitive outsourcing destination in the world after China and India, vying for a piece of the global IT outsourcing market worth more than $50 billion.

Nigeria has the requisite market potential and is not a greenhorn in global development trends, but what we have been lacking and which the next administration must tackle is the dearth of infrastructure and enabling environment for businesses, particularly the start-ups, to thrive. Luckily Asiwaju, in his manifesto, has promised easy access to credit, business mentorship, NYSC Reform, and business incubation centres, among other things, as parts of plans to reduce unemployment from the current high to 11.9 million by 2026.

The ‘Endsars’ protest of 2020 and the recent waves of obedient movement across Nigeria are clear pointers to how disruptive to established systems the youths of any nation can be whenever they become formidable. The time is very ripe for the incoming administration to take advantage of this pool of resource to cash out heavily and produce more people like Dozy Mmobuosi, who is about completing a 90-million-pound takeover of Sheffield United Football Club in England, or Shola Akinlade, the co-founder of Paystack, who already bought 55% of a Danish football club, Aarhus Fremad.

There are many of such great Nigerian youths shattering the glass ceiling in various careers, especially abroad. However, the number is just too small; a very tiny drop in a very vast ocean. May the hope of millions of the Nigerian youths be renewed, and that renewed hope rests squarely on the presidency of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

•Dr Bello writes from Abuja