Jobs Alert: Federal Government Begins Fresh Registration For Nigerians Aged 15–35

The Federal Government has called on Nigerians between the ages of 15 and 35 to register with the National Youth Data Bank (NYDB), a new initiative designed to help identify young people’s skills, locations and needs and connect them with employment and other opportunities.

Minister of Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande, made the call on Tuesday in Abuja while launching the National Youth Data Bank project.

According to Bush Radio Academy, the minister said the initiative would capture young Nigerians across both the formal and informal sectors, including those involved in agriculture, sports, creative industries and technology.

Olawande explained that reliable data on the country’s youth population would help the government better understand their needs and improve the planning and implementation of programmes targeted at young Nigerians.

He said the database was intended to provide information on key issues, including the number and location of young people, their skills and the types of opportunities they require.

The minister also stressed that the initiative was designed as a continuous government programme and was not being introduced for electoral purposes.

He urged young Nigerians across different sectors to participate in the registration exercise so that those seeking employment, skills development and other forms of support could be appropriately identified.

Speaking on the implementation of the project, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of POGMA Nigeria Limited, Otunba Oluyinka Akerele, said registration points had already been established in educational institutions across the country.

Akerele explained that the exercise would subsequently expand to local government areas and wards nationwide, with enumerators expected to reach young Nigerians in different communities, including hard-to-reach areas.

He said students in secondary schools, polytechnics, universities and colleges of education would be among those targeted, alongside young people working in the informal sector and those living in rural communities.

According to him, the deployment of enumerators across the 774 local government areas would enable the programme to capture a wider range of young Nigerians regardless of their location or sector.

Akerele encouraged eligible Nigerians to participate in the exercise, saying registration would help the government identify young people and better determine the opportunities and support required by different groups.

He further explained that the registration covers Nigerians aged 15 to 35 in line with the Nigerian Youth Policy.

Akerele said the database would also be regularly updated as younger Nigerians attain the eligible age, allowing them to be captured when they turn 15.

The government said the information collected through the National Youth Data Bank would ultimately support efforts to connect young Nigerians with jobs, skills-development programmes and other opportunities in both the public and private sectors.