From demographics to development: Harnessing Nigeria’s youth potential

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy stands at a pivotal moment in its development journey. With young people accounting for nearly 60 percent of the population, a demographic reality that can either accelerate economic transformation or deepen existing challenges.

Moving from demographics to development requires more than acknowledging this advantage; it demands deliberate investment in education, skills, innovation, and job creation.

Harnessed effectively, Nigeria’s youth potential can become the engine that drives inclusive growth, productivity, and long-term national prosperity.

As the country joins the rest of the world to celebrate the International Day of Education 2026 themed: “The power of youth in co-creating education” the country must recognise youth and their role as agents of change in achieving inclusive and equitable quality education and building peaceful, just and inclusive societies.

The challenges

Nigerian youth face systemic challenges such as unemployment, skills mismatch from the educational system, widespread insecurity, and endemic corruption.

The 2025 Lagos Economic Development Update (LEDU) reveals a paradox in the labour market. On average, monthly labour demand stands at 2,837 job vacancies, while the supply includes 3,318 jobseekers.

However, 816 jobseekers, making up 26 percent, lack both education and experience, reducing the pool of employable candidates to 2,502 individuals.

The LEDU report shows that while jobseekers flood the market, employers struggle to find qualified candidates to fill key roles.

According to the International Labour Organization, the youth unemployment rate in Nigeria rose to 6.5 percent in Q4 2025.

Several surveys show that over 70 percent of employers’ report difficulty filling roles due to a lack of job-ready talent.

The skills mismatch gap contributes to youth unemployment and underemployment, as many young people end up in low-paid, informal jobs that do not match their qualifications.

Experts argue that to harness youth potential, Nigeria must integrate education, industry, and government, addressing systemic issues such as regional disparities and inadequate resources to meet modern labour demands.

They emphasised that poor funding, weak university-industry links, lack of digital infrastructure, teacher shortages/inadequacies, and a negative mindset is hindering innovation and skill development among Nigerian youth.

Olajumoke Familoni, chairman of the International Centre for Leadership and Entrepreneurial Development (ICLED), said, “There is a lot of unemployment out there because employers and employees’ desires and needs are mismatched.

“Employers are more interested in what an employee is bringing to the table, the skills, leadership quality, teamwork and critical thinking, among others, than the paper qualifications.”

Oyewole Sarumi, a professor of Strategic Leadership and Digital Transformation at Prowess University, Delaware, USA, noted that the underfunding of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is threatening the development of youth’s potential and the country’s economy.

“The core of this crisis is sustained financial neglect, reflecting deep-seated societal prejudice. National education budgets disproportionately favour the general academic stream, particularly universities, while treating polytechnics and technical colleges as secondary priorities,” he said.

Nigeria’s budgetary allocation to education over the years dangle below 10 percent of the total expenditure. From 2015 to 2025, the education allocation has been nose-diving from 10.75 percent to just 5.47 percent of the national budget.

According to UNESCO between 15 percent and 20 percent of a country’s annual budget should be allocated to education. However, Nigeria has consistently fallen short of this benchmark, with education allocations hovering below eight percent in most of the last 10 years.

President Bola Tinubu, in 2025 earmarked N3.5 trillion for education, but the figures for the 2024 budget indicate that only N1.59 trillion, just 5.5 percent of the N28.77 trillion was allocated to education.

By providing youth with the tools to learn, adapt, and create, education empowers them to contribute more effectively to the economy and society.

Solution

Ajibade Ayodeji, director of the Babcock University’s Entrepreneurship Development Centre urges the government to prioritise youth empowerment through competence-based education

“I think it is high time our government prioritises what is very important to the nation. To lift people out of poverty, give them education, proper education does to a nation, what infrastructures cannot do.

“Only if our government understands that countries such as China, and South Korea, among others, prioritise certain types of education at a point, and that has contributed to where they are today, will they know that Nigeria needs to do the same as well,” he said.

Similarly, Christopher Itua, head of industrial services and development at the Institute for Industrial Technology (IIT), emphasised the need for an education system that integrates classroom instruction with on-the-job training, to ensure students gain both the theoretical foundation and practical experience needed to succeed in the 21-st century workplace.

Charles Ogwo is a proactive journalist, driving education, and business innovations for over 10 years.

He leads initiatives leveraging tech to enhance storytelling and build topnotch performing team.

Charles is passionate about harnessing technology to inform, engage and empower communities.

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