The Federal Government has paid ₦3.41bn in monthly stipends to 73,000 beneficiaries of its Technical and Vocational Education and Training programme, as part of a broader ₦13.98bn disbursement aimed at closing Nigeria's skills gap and reducing youth unemployment.

Data from the Federal Ministry of Education showed that, alongside the trainee stipends, ₦10.57bn was released to accredited training centres participating in the scheme. The programme, launched on May 30, 2025, attracted more than 1.3 million applicants, reflecting the scale of demand for vocational pathways among young Nigerians facing limited formal employment opportunities.

The initiative is being implemented by the Federal Ministry of Education in partnership with the Nigerian Education Loan Fund and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, and currently operates across 1,700 training and trade centres nationwide. Courses are offered in more than 30 priority trades accredited by the National Board for Technical Education.

Two tracks define the programme structure. Under the Master 6 Programme, trainees receive six months of tuition free vocational training alongside a monthly stipend of ₦22,500. The Master 12 Programme offers one year of advanced technical training with free tuition, accommodation, feeding, and monthly stipends for participants enrolled in higher skill categories.

The government said the intervention was designed to build a pipeline of skilled workers for key industries while equipping young Nigerians with employable and entrepreneurial capabilities.

Nigeria's National Bureau of Statistics placed unemployment at 4.3% in the second quarter of 2024 under its revised methodology, though youth unemployment and underemployment remain considerably higher among Nigerians aged 15 to 34. Sectors including construction, welding, mechatronics, renewable energy, ICT, agriculture, and automobile maintenance continue to report acute shortages of technically trained workers despite the broader unemployment challenge.

As part of wider reforms, the Federal Government has renamed Federal Science and Technical Colleges as Federal Technical Colleges. Students in these institutions now receive free tuition, boarding, feeding, and a monthly stipend of ₦5,000, with more than 38 federal and state technical colleges either upgraded or repositioned under the initiative.

To strengthen training quality, the government has partnered with Singapore's Institute of Technical Education Services for teacher training and curriculum development. The National Business and Technical Examinations Board has also been repositioned as the sole National Skills Qualification certifying authority in collaboration with sectoral awarding bodies.