President Bola Tinubu has said that Nigeria’s ambition to build a $1 trillion economy hinges on boosting productivity, deepening innovation and a techno-skilled manpower base to position the nation’s economy at the forefront of global market competitiveness.
The President, who made this remark on Thursday at the 3MTT Nigeria National Impact Summit held at the State House in Abuja, said the path to national prosperity lied not in chance but in deliberate investment in human capital.
Tinubu, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen. George Akume, pointed out that in a world reshaped by rapid technological change, the nations that lead would be those that invest in skilled youth workforce for their economies.
According to him, for Nigeria to achieve this goal governments must continue to treat human capital as the most valuable resource under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
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Specifically, the President clarified that digital skills remained the most critical factor to boost growth in agriculture, healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and education sectors, and the public service, making programmes like the Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) initiative crucial to the present administration’s economic transformation blueprint.
Tinubu expatiated: “A strong digital workforce creates jobs, expands enterprise and positions Nigeria to participate competitively in the global marketplace. More importantly, it shifts our role in the world from passive consumers of technology to active creators and exporters of talent.”
Describing the 3MTT programme as a proof of what focus and disciplined execution can achieve, he said the initiative had moved from concept to measurable impact across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory From with more than 1.8 million applications drawn from every local government area to new startups and job opportunities emerging nationwide.
The President maintained that opportunity is no longer limited to major cities as the programme had been restoring confidence among young Nigerians that they can compete and thrive in the global digital economy.
Tinubu commended the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy for stewarding the programme and acknowledged key private-sector and development partners, including IHS Towers, MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, Google, Microsoft, Huawei, Moniepoint, the United Nations Development Programme and the European Union, for giving the initiative depth and credibility.
While noting the progress made so far, the President said Nigeria must stay committed to the larger vision of transforming digital and technical skills nationwide, adding that this will require continued collaboration among government, industry and development partners.
Tinubu enthused: “To the young Nigerians gathered here, and to the millions you represent across every community in our nation, we believe in your capacity and your future. Through initiatives like 3MTT, we are building genuine platforms for progress, not ceremonial commitments.”
The President maintained that the Nigeria of the future must be powered by skilled manpower who are ready to work, create and lead, assuring that his administration is determined to lay a strong foundation for a digital workforce that will usher in a next chapter of growth and shared prosperity in the country.
In his remarks at the forum, Minister of Communications, Innovations and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, disclosed that about 135,000 Nigerians had been trained within the past two years with some of them having opportunities to secure well-paid jobs in tech companies, while others have had opportunities to travel to China, UK and other countries for further studies.
Commenting President Bola Tinubu for his commitment to the 3MTT programme and other digital technology innovation initiatives, the minister within the first month of the launch of the 3MTT programme, over 1.8 million Nigerian youths signed onto the programme.
According to him, the commitment of the present administration to digital infrastructure development remains unparalleled as President Tinubu recently approved deployment of 4,000 telecom infrastructure to rural areas to ensure that 23 million Nigerians in unconnected areas are connected to the Internet.
The Minister, who projected that by 2030 about 170 million jobs would have been created for Nigerians with tech skills, stressed that the digital economy sector would remain vibrant and Nigeria would be in a position to fill vacancies in the sector with the approach adopted by the present administration to bring the youth on board the digital economy sector.
While highlighting the various supports and funding received by the government from the private sector and international institutions such as Google, Microsoft, IHS, Huawei, MTN, UNDP, and the African Development Bank (AfDB) among others, he emphasised that the 3MTT programme remained open to all Nigerian youths.
In addition, the Minister explained that under the programme, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) provided about N1.5 billion worth of laptops and other gadgets to beneficiaries, noting that the beneficiaries of the programme secured 15,000 direct jobs from different tech companies after their trainings.
Canvassing the need for increased private sector participation in the 3MTT programme, Tijani the initiative now had community managers in the 36 states of the Federation and one in the FCT, while over 600 facility agents are working across the 774 local government councils of the country.
