The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), in partnership with VFS Global, has trained 100 young Nigerians in artificial intelligence (AI) as part of efforts to equip them with market-ready skills, enhance employability, and reduce unemployment.
The beneficiaries graduated during a ceremony in Lagos, where organisers said the initiative was designed to prepare young people for emerging opportunities in the digital economy while encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship.
Speaking at the graduation and prize-giving ceremony, the Director-General of NECA, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, said the AI programme forms part of the association’s broader employability initiative aimed at aligning young Nigerians’ skills with the evolving needs of the labour market.
According to Oyerinde, the initiative complements the ongoing NECA–Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Technical Skills Development Project by equipping participants with practical digital competencies that are increasingly sought after by employers.
“It is part of our employability project of equipping young Nigerians with relevant market-ready skills.
“Beyond what we are currently doing with the ITF in technical skills development, one of our member companies, VFS Global, partnered with us to train 100 young Nigerians in artificial intelligence.
“They came up with ideas and built projects that we are going to refine and probably take to the next level. For us, it is a continuation of our commitment to building not just skills, but relevant and market-ready skills,” Oyerinde said.
He disclosed that participants developed four AI-powered solutions during the programme, including passport identification systems, passport photograph applications for visa processing, and optical number plate recognition technology for use in residential estates and businesses.
Oyerinde said the next phase of the initiative would focus on refining the projects before presenting them to potential investors and end users during the TLSP Stakeholders’ Engagement scheduled to hold in Abuja later this year.
“They have built four different market-ready projects. What we are going to do now is get them to refine those products.
“By the end of the year, during the TLSP Stakeholders’ Engagement in Abuja, they will present the products to the market,” he said.
He added that the programme was designed not only to improve participants’ prospects of securing employment but also to empower them to establish businesses and create jobs for others.
“The products they have developed and the skills they have acquired should enable them to establish businesses of their own and become critical stakeholders in Nigeria’s industrialisation ecosystem.
“It is a direct intervention to address unemployment. With what they have created, the stipends they received, and the laptops we provided, we have positioned them not only to become entrepreneurs but also employers of labour.
“Our goal is to strategically reduce unemployment significantly in this country,” Oyerinde said.
He noted that the AI training marked the first collaboration between NECA and VFS Global, adding that the company had committed to sustaining the initiative through future editions.
As part of the programme, the overall best graduating participant received a cash prize of ₦500,000, while the second and third-place winners received ₦300,000 and ₦200,000 respectively.
The outstanding graduates were also presented with laptops, while all participants were promised internship opportunities with VFS Global to further strengthen their workplace readiness.
Also speaking, the Chairman of Ikeja Local Government, Akeem Dauda, called for stronger collaboration between government and the private sector to expand skills development initiatives capable of reducing youth unemployment.
Dauda, whose council partnered with NECA on the programme, said several beneficiaries were drawn from the local government area.
“We understand the challenges facing our youths. One way to engage them is through AI and similar programmes.
“I want to thank VFS Global for training almost 100 young Nigerians, and I call on more organisations to partner with government in supporting our youths so that unemployment can be reduced,” he said.
He added that the council had enrolled more than 50 secondary school students in its holiday job scheme in partnership with NECA, with participants expected to receive stipends throughout the two-month programme.
According to Dauda, the council is also strengthening vocational skills development through its vocational training centre, which currently has more than 50 trainees.
“We are investing significantly in our youths because they are the future, and we have no choice but to continue supporting them,” he said.
Both stories have been edited to conform to UK English, improved for flow and readability, strengthened with an HR and labour-market perspective, and retain all facts, figures, and quotations from the original drafts.
