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FG targets 20,000 jobs yearly in Nigeria jubilee fellows programme
The Federal Government has announced its plan to generate at least 20,000 jobs every year through the second phase of the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP).
Vice President Kashim Shettima disclosed this on Monday during the inauguration of the Project Steering Committee for the NJFP 2.0 at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, ahead of its official launch and the High-Level Policy Dialogue on Job Creation scheduled for Wednesday.
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This was made known in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha.
Originally launched in 2022, the NJFP aims to equip young Nigerian graduates with practical work experience, mentorship opportunities, and entrepreneurial training to enhance employability and self-reliance.
Shettima explained that the initiative—implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with financial support from the European Union—aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises youth empowerment, innovation, and employment creation.
He highlighted that the new phase builds on the achievements of the maiden edition, which provided over 14,000 young Nigerians with paid 12-month fellowships in both public and private sector institutions.
The Vice President described the initiative as “a deliberate attempt to translate the nation’s demographic strength into productive economic power, demonstrating that when government provides structure, partnership, and purpose, young Nigerians rise to the occasion.”
Also speaking at the event, the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hadejia, revealed that the new phase would place at least 24,000 fellows over the next 10 months, offering two career tracks — professional employment and entrepreneurship development.
He stated that the programme’s long-term objective is to “put structures in place to sustain the deployment of at least 20,000 fellows annually.”
Hadejia added that NJFP 2.0, “which will place a minimum of 24,000 fellows over the next 10 months, with the funding support of the EU,” directly “supports the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, which prioritizes job creation, skills development, and youth empowerment as key pillars of Nigeria’s economic transformation.”
He continued, “It shows that this administration is not only focused on policy — it is focused on impact. Through NJFP 2.0, we are demonstrating how government programmes can translate into real opportunities for decent work and enterprise creation for young Nigerians.”
Meanwhile, Vice President Shettima urged members of the steering committee to ensure inclusivity and fairness in the implementation process, stressing that every part of Nigeria must benefit from the initiative.
He charged them “to deepen that ownership, strengthen coordination across our institutions, and ensure that NJFP remains accountable to the ambitions of this administration.”
Shettima continued, *“As we deliberate today, I encourage us to think not in terms of targets or figures alone, but in terms of outcomes that matter; young people whose lives change because this system works as intended.
“We have an opportunity here to demonstrate what partnership done right can achieve: where government leads with clarity, partners contribute with confidence, and results speak for themselves. Therefore, let us approach our work with that understanding.
“In scaling NJFP 2.0, inclusivity must remain at the heart of our design. Our young people are not a homogenous group; they live in different realities across regions, genders, and social backgrounds.
“We must ensure that this opportunity reaches every corner of the country — and that placements are tied to the sectors that will shape Nigeria’s future: agriculture, digital technology, renewable energy, manufacturing, and the creative industries.”
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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