Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, has charged Nigerian youths to abandon dependency on certificates alone and embrace technical skills, enterprise, innovation, and lifelong learning as the country battles rising unemployment and a rapidly changing global economy.
Speaking at the 33rd Convocation Ceremony and 70th Anniversary of Kaduna Polytechnic, where she delivered the institution’s pre-convocation lecture, Bala Usman declared that Nigeria’s future workforce must be “technically competent, digitally aware, entrepreneurial, adaptable, and solution-driven.”
Addressing graduating students, academics, and policymakers, the presidential aide delivered a passionate call for a total overhaul of technical and vocational education under the theme, “The New Workforce: Leveraging Technical Training and Research for a Digitally Empowered Nigeria Under the Renewed Hope Agenda.”
“The future workforce must go beyond certificates,” she said. “Young Nigerians must position themselves as innovators, entrepreneurs, and nation-builders, not just job seekers.”
Bala Usman warned that Nigeria’s growing youth population could become a burden if the country fails to equip young people with practical and industry-relevant skills needed to compete in a technology-driven global economy.
Highlighting the harsh realities of unemployment and changing work patterns worldwide, she stressed that institutions like Kaduna Polytechnic remain crucial to producing a productive and competitive workforce capable of driving economic growth.
According to her, technical and vocational education, digital skills, research, and innovation must now become central pillars of Nigeria’s development strategy.
She also unveiled key reforms being implemented under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly the Federal Government’s renewed focus on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), curriculum modernisation, digital empowerment, innovation, and skills acquisition programmes.
Bala Usman said the reforms are designed to prepare Nigerian youths for the “future of work” and reduce the widening disconnect between education and industry demands.
In a strong appeal to stakeholders, she called for deeper collaboration between government, educational institutions, industry players, development partners, and the private sector to build what she described as a sustainable skills ecosystem capable of driving enterprise, productivity, and inclusive economic growth.
“We must strengthen partnerships that support practical education, innovation, and enterprise,” she said.
She reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening technical education, research, and digital innovation as part of broader efforts to build a productive, globally competitive, and digitally empowered Nigeria.
