President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has issued a clarion call to Nigeria’s youth, urging them to pursue their dreams with courage, resilience, and bold creativity as the Federal Government deepens investment in innovation, digital empowerment, and youth enterprise.
Speaking at the unveiling of the Nigerian Youth Academy (NIYA) GIGS Platform and the Grant Award Ceremony organised by the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, Tinubu—represented by Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila—affirmed that Nigeria’s young innovators remain the driving force of the nation’s long-term prosperity.
The NIYA initiative will provide direct financial support to 300 young Nigerians, with 200 beneficiaries from the formal sector and 100 from the informal sector, reflecting an inclusive approach to talent development and economic opportunity.
Tinubu emphasised that the pace of global change, driven by digitalisation and emerging technologies, demands a new class of Nigerian innovators who can compete and create value at scale.
“Build boldly, innovate courageously, scale fearlessly. You are the generation that will continue the task of building this nation,” he said.
A New Economic Future Anchored on Youth Potential
The President reiterated that his administration has placed youth at the heart of national economic reform. From streamlining taxes to creating incentives for digital and creative industries, the government is working to dismantle barriers that historically limited youth participation in entrepreneurship and employment.
Tinubu highlighted several structural interventions undertaken to enable young Nigerians to build sustainable ventures:
- Expanded access to consumer credit and enterprise financing
- Regulatory reforms improving the ease of doing business
- Incentives for digital, creative and tech-enabled enterprises
- Targeted programmes supporting freelancers, startups and SMEs
He stressed that these interventions serve a single purpose:
to build an economy where young Nigerians can imagine, create, and scale ideas without being constrained by bureaucracy or lack of access.
“With NIYA GIGS, we are introducing a national platform connecting young Nigerians to paid freelance and digital service opportunities both locally and globally,” he added. NIYA Academy, NIYA Startup and NIYA Jobs complete an integrated ecosystem linking skills to markets, ideas to capital, and talent to income.
A Platform Designed to Amplify Youth Talent
Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, described NIYA as a catalytic national initiative designed to recognise, nurture, and scale youth brilliance across multiple sectors of the economy.
- 200 youth-led startups will each receive ₦1 million
- 100 informal-sector participants will receive ₦500,000
According to him, NIYA will position Nigerian youths to compete globally, earn sustainable income, and build the resilience required in the modern digital economy.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, added that the NIYA launch represents a major milestone in Nigeria’s commitment to youth-driven development, one that strengthens entrepreneurship, digital capability and vocational excellence—the pillars of a future-ready workforce.
Senior government officials and members of the Federal Executive Council attended the launch, underscoring the strategic importance of the initiative.
BRANDECONOMY Insight
Nigeria’s demographic advantage will only translate into economic advantage when youth empowerment moves from rhetoric to system-wide implementation. The launch of NIYA signals this shift.
What makes NIYA different is not just the grants or platforms—it is the intentional architecture behind it. For the first time, a government initiative connects skills, freelance work, startup funding, training, and job placement into a unified national ecosystem. This is how modern human-capital economies are built.
Three strategic insights stand out:
1. Talent, Not Oil, Will Shape Nigeria’s Future
In a world moving rapidly toward digital economies, Nigeria’s young population is its most valuable export and its most transformative domestic asset. NIYA recognises this by positioning young Nigerians as drivers of innovation, productivity, and economic diversification.
2. Inclusion Across Formal and Informal Sectors Is Critical
The dual grant structure—supporting both startups and informal workers—acknowledges the realities of Nigeria’s labour market. Innovation is not limited to tech hubs; it thrives in markets, workshops, community businesses, and the hustle-driven informal sector.
3. A National Digital Work Pipeline Can Redefine Youth Prosperity
Platforms like NIYA GIGS create cross-border economic mobility. A Nigerian graduate—or self-taught digital talent—can now earn globally while living locally. This is the future of work, and NIYA places Nigeria on the path to participate meaningfully.
If expanded and sustained, NIYA could become one of the continent’s most influential human capital initiatives—turning talent into enterprise, training into jobs, and innovation into national competitiveness.
