FG extends poverty reduction scheme to Oyo, woos states

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By Omeiza Ajayi

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ABUJA: The Federal Government has called on state governments to partner with it in implementing the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy NPRGS, a flagship initiative designed to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within 10 years through economic growth and targeted social protection.

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Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education (TVEE), Dr Abiola Arogundade, in a statement on Thursday said the programme has continued its rollout with a training session in Oyo State.

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She urged state governments, traditional rulers, community leaders, and the private sector to partner with the Federal Government as the programme expands to additional states across the country.

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Arogundade described the programme as a central pillar of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which holds that Nigerian youths are not the problem facing the country but the solution to its challenges.

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According to the statement, the NPRGS launched its pioneer cohort in Abuja on June 30, 2025, with an intensive 10-day training programme in cybersecurity and web development, alongside a solar energy installation upscaling track.

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Arogundade described the Abuja phase as a resounding success, noting that participants who arrived sceptical left with practical, marketable skills, having built their first websites and gained an understanding of digital security fundamentals, with graduates receiving laptops and certificates of completion.

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She disclosed that the Abuja phase alone drew over 7,000 applications, an indication, she said, of strong public demand for the programme.

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Building on that momentum, the statement said the NPRGS is now expanding across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones, with each zone hosting 200 trainees in sessions lasting 10 days to two weeks, bringing the total number of beneficiaries under the initial phase of the programme nationwide to 1,200 youths.

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She explained that the skills offered in each state are selected based on local market demand, relevance, and trainee preferences.

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For the South West zone, the statement disclosed that training in Oyo State would hold from September 28, 2026, running daily for over two weeks, with trainees learning Graphics/Artificial Intelligence (AI) design, makeup, and fashion designing.

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Arogundade added that each participant would receive a complete training kit to take home upon completion, including laptops for Graphics/AI trainees, fully equipped makeup kits for Makeup trainees, sewing machines and starter kits for Fashion Designing trainees, and fermentation kits for Agriculture (Yoghurt Making) trainees.

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The statement listed the core objectives of the programme as equipping Nigerian youths with practical, marketable skills; reducing unemployment and underemployment; promoting entrepreneurship and self-reliance; and advancing the national goal of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within 10 years.

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