The Federal Ministry of Youth Development is placing technology-driven youth empowerment at the centre of its 2026 budget proposal, outlining plans to scale digital skills training, startup support and tech-enabled job creation across Nigeria.
Presenting the proposal before a joint session of the National Assembly of Nigeria, Ayodele Olawande, Minister of Youth Development, says the Ministry’s priorities for the coming fiscal year include youth empowerment initiatives, job creation programmes, skills acquisition and vocational training, and entrepreneurship development.
Olawande discloses that despite reduced budgetary allocations, the Ministry is sustaining its digital transformation agenda through infrastructure rehabilitation and strategic partnerships.
“We are rehabilitating Youth Development Centres across the country,” the Minister says, “strengthening digital skills partnerships, and advocating for a structured 15% youth development funding framework at national and state levels.”
“We are rehabilitating Youth Development Centres across the country,” the Minister says, “strengthening digital skills partnerships, and advocating for a structured 15% youth development funding framework at national and state levels.”
He explains that the proposed 15% framework is designed to institutionalise predictable funding for youth-focused interventions, ensuring alignment between federal and subnational programmes.
“Investing in young people is not optional; it is strategic. With sustained legislative support and improved funding releases, we will continue transforming the potential of Nigerian youth into measurable national growth,” Olawande says.
A significant portion of the 2026 proposal focuses on scaling programmes already launched by the Ministry. The Minister notes that in 2025, the Ministry expanded the Nigerian Youth Academy and introduced digital platforms, including NIYA Gig and NIYA Startup, to deepen youth participation in the gig economy and startup ecosystem. The 2026 fiscal plan, he says, will concentrate on broadening their reach and impact.
According to the Ministry, these initiatives have led to the creation of 5,000 jobs in the data privacy sector in collaboration with the Nigerian Data Protection Commission, alongside the provision of startup grants to more than 300 young Nigerians.
Olawande reaffirms that the Ministry will effectively deliver on its mandate and scale up impactful programmes that promote innovation, productivity and sustainable livelihoods among youths. He adds that the 2026 proposal reflects a strong emphasis on capital investment aimed at sustaining youth empowerment programmes nationwide.
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