The Federal Government has launched the National Youth Data Bank (NYDB), a centralised platform designed to provide reliable information on the skills, education, employment, entrepreneurship and other needs of Nigerian youths.
Minister of Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande, who formally launched the initiative on Tuesday in Abuja, said the platform would enable the government and other stakeholders to better identify young Nigerians and connect them with relevant opportunities.
Olawande, who spoke at the official launch of the NYDB, with the theme, “Building a Stronger Future for the Nigerian Youth through Data, Opportunity and Inclusion,” said the initiative was aimed at addressing the fragmentation of youth-related information across government institutions and programmes.
He added that the strategic initiative was designed to strengthen evidence-based planning, improve policy formulation and enhance the delivery of targeted youth development programmes and interventions across Nigeria.
The Minister said the absence of comprehensive and reliable data had made it difficult for the government to determine the actual number, location, skills and needs of young Nigerians, as well as assess whether interventions were reaching the intended beneficiaries.
According to him, the NYDB would provide information on demographics, education, skills and professional qualifications, employment status, entrepreneurship, talents, training needs and other areas relevant to youth development.
He emphasised that the success of the National Youth Data Bank would depend on sustained collaboration among Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government, state governments, educational institutions, development partners, the private sector, civil society organisations and youth organisations.
The Minister said the initiative would also help bridge the gap between young Nigerians and the government, noting that the ministry had earlier established a youth help desk to improve communication and access to information.
He explained that the new platform would go beyond collecting names and figures to linking young people with opportunities in skills development, employment, entrepreneurship, digital programmes and other youth-focused interventions.
Olawande said young entrepreneurs with viable ideas would be connected to appropriate support, while graduates seeking employment would have pathways to relevant opportunities.
He noted that existing institutions already had significant youth-related data, citing the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), which he said had data on more than 480,000 corps members mobilised annually.
Olawande said the ministry would deploy enumerators to capture data on both formal and informal youth, including those engaged in agriculture, sports, technology and other creative fields.
He said the approach was intended to ensure that young people in rural and underserved communities were not excluded from government programmes and opportunities.
The Minister also called on young Nigerians to register on the platform and provide accurate information, stressing that the credibility of the database would depend on the quality of information supplied.
He assured Nigerians that measures would be put in place to protect personal information and ensure that data was properly managed and used for legitimate purposes.
Olawande, however, said the initiative was not being introduced as an election-related programme ahead of the 2027 general elections, stressing that the government was focused on building institutions that would outlive the present administration.
He said, “We need to build institutions. Everything should not be election, election. It is a process. Government is a process. You start something, you build on it when it is ripe enough to put out, so that it is not going to be part of those things that they just do and doesn’t see the light of the day.
“Even when we leave office, other people can build on it. We must do something that will make sure that the Nigerian youth, or the country itself, knows that we are building an institution that will serve for a long while, not just the time we have.”
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth Development, Dr Maryam Ismaila Keshinro, who was represented by the Director, Human Resources, Olaniepekun Akinwumi Adebayo, described the NYDB as a significant milestone in efforts to strengthen youth development planning.
She said credible data on the educational and skills profiles, employment status, entrepreneurial interests, locations, aspirations and vulnerabilities of young Nigerians was necessary for effective policymaking and targeting of programmes.
She called on Ministries, Departments and Agencies, state and local governments, development partners, youth organisations and private-sector stakeholders to collaborate with the ministry to make the NYDB a reliable and sustainable national resource.
According to the ministry, the NYDB will cover Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with identity verification and data validation processes incorporated to improve the reliability of information collected.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Youth Development, Senator Adeyemi Raphael Adaramodu, who was represented by Dr Ijeoma Chilean, Clerk of the Senate Committee, hailed the National Youth Data Bank as a remarkable accomplishment towards advancing a more responsive, inclusive and evidence-based approach to youth development in Nigeria.
Adaramodu commended the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, POGMA Nigeria Limited and other stakeholders for their commitment to the development and implementation of the initiative.