The federal government has officially launched the National Youth Data Bank (NYDB), a programme designed to register every Nigerian between the ages of 15 and 35, creating a centralised record of the country's youth population. Minister of Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande, announced the launch on Tuesday, September 29, in Abuja, stating that the database would capture young Nigerians in both formal and informal sectors, covering fields such as agriculture, sports, technology, and the creative industries.
Registration Targets Formal and Informal Sectors
Olawande said the government needed reliable data to understand who young Nigerians are, where they live, what skills they have, and what support they require. He added that the information would directly shape how youth-focused programmes are planned and delivered across the country, as reported by DailyTrust.
“We also want to get the formal and the informal youth to make sure that they are part of this. We want everybody,” Olawande said. He was clear that the NYDB is a standing government programme and not tied to any electoral agenda, adding that the goal is to ensure young Nigerians needing jobs or skills training can be matched with the right interventions.
Enumerators to Cover All 774 LGAs
Otunba Oluyinka Akerele, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of POGMA Nigeria Limited, the technical partner on the project, said registration points have already been set up in secondary schools, polytechnics, universities, and colleges of education. He said the exercise would later expand to local government areas and wards nationwide, with enumerators deployed across all 774 LGAs to capture data on youths in informal sectors and hard-to-reach communities.
“For the Nigerian youth registration, we have created cluster points in schools, polytechnics, universities, College of Education. These are targets for the formal sectors. All we appeal to our youth to do is to embrace the programme, go out en masse and be registered,” Akerele said.
Rolling Updates Based on Nigerian Youth Policy
Akerele confirmed that the age bracket of 15 to 35 follows the Nigerian Youth Policy, and that the database will be updated on a rolling basis as more Nigerians cross the eligibility threshold, according to Punch reports. He explained: “For those that are not up to 15, that's why you have an update, just like you have with INEC. Once they are 15, our enumerators are there to capture them.”
Akerele called on young Nigerians to take part in the registration, saying it is the primary way the government can identify them and connect them with available opportunities.
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Tunde Onakoya, founder of Chess in Slums Africa, partnered with Jobs59 and AltSchool Africa to introduce a N250 million scholarship programme aimed at helping corps members and recent graduates develop digital skills to improve their employment prospects. Under that initiative, each successful applicant will receive N160,000 in funding, comprising N10,000 for the admission application fee and N150,000 toward tuition. A scholarship can be used to study any eligible diploma programme offered by AltSchool Africa.
