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Tinubu Aims for Tech Creators, Not Consumers – Minister
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda Gashwer, on Monday said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is steadily transforming Nigeria into a nation that exports digital skills like crude oil, empowering citizens to become creators, not just consumers of technology.
Prof. Gashwer made the statement during the graduation ceremony of 35 Nigerian youths who completed a digital skills training programme co-organised by the Ministry and the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), held at DBI’s headquarters in Abuja.
In his remarks, DBI President and CEO, David Daser, underscored the urgent need to equip Nigerian youths with income-generating digital skills, warning that the country cannot achieve meaningful development without investing in youth training and up-skilling for wealth creation.
Delivering the keynote address at the event themed “Skills for Empowerment,” the Minister stressed that the global economy is increasingly driven by data, coded systems, and creativity, noting that digital skills now form the backbone of economic power worldwide.
He said: “This programme, under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was not designed to hand out aid but to hand over agency. The future we envision is not one where people wait to be rescued, but where they rise to become solution creators, job makers, and wealth builders.
“You are not just graduates; you are the vanguard of a new Nigeria a Nigeria where young people do not flee from poverty but defeat it with knowledge; a Nigeria where digital skills are exported like oil; a Nigeria where we are no longer consumers of technology, but creators of it.”
The Minister further noted that the government is committed to building community tech hubs where skills are nurtured, and innovation is celebrated. He highlighted plans to develop online platforms to connect skilled Nigerians with local and global opportunities, and to establish funding pathways so that innovative ideas can transition from notebooks to the marketplace.
“If we want to reduce poverty sustainably, we must make wealth inclusive, digital, and locally driven,” he added.
Daser thanked the Minister for his unwavering commitment to national development and his visible support for the programme, as evidenced by his presence at the graduation ceremony.
He noted that this year’s theme, “Skills for Empowerment,” directly addresses one of the most critical needs of the time economic self-reliance through practical skill acquisition.
“As a nation striving toward sustainable development, the importance of equipping individuals with relevant, income-generating skills cannot be overstated,” Daser said.
He revealed that the initiative was not limited to DBI’s Abuja campus but extended to its other national campuses in Enugu, Lagos, Yola, and Kano, thereby bringing opportunities closer to diverse communities and advancing the institute’s mission of bridging the digital and development divide in Nigeria.
The DBI boss stated that participants received hands-on training in Web Application Design, Graphic Design, and Image Editing, among other high-impact areas.
“These are not just technical skills,” he said. “They are tools of transformation, pathways to independence, creativity, and sustainable livelihood.”
He urged the graduates not to see their certificates as an end, but as the beginning of a journey filled with innovation, contribution, and value creation.
“I encourage you to see yourselves not just as job seekers, but as job creators as catalysts of hope and change,” Daser said.
He reaffirmed DBI’s commitment to national development through technology, capacity building, and strategic partnerships that empower lives and reduce poverty across Nigeria.
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Many people are feared to have lost their lives as a military aircraft with tail number NGR 931, en route Lagos from Benin, crashed in the Igbokoda axis of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State on Monday.
The Ondo State Police Command Spokesperson, DSP Abayomi Jimoh, who confirmed the incident to journalists in Akure, noted that details surrounding the incident are still emerging, as efforts to establish the full circumstances continue.
Jimoh said: “The Command urges members of the public, particularly residents of Igbokoda and adjoining communities, to remain calm and refrain from circulating unverified information.”
He stated further that the public will be duly informed as soon as further credible information is available.
Also, a statement by the Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, said that all efforts to raise the aircraft on radio proved abortive.
According to him, the wreckage has been located, and search and rescue operations are ongoing.
Preliminary information suggests that there were 25 passengers and 7 crew members on board.
“Whilst the control and regulation of military aircraft are completely outside the authority of the Ministry of Aviation, and Civil Aviation Authority, I have just spoken to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke and pledged our total cooperation and assistance in the search and rescue efforts ongoing”, Keyamo added.
The identity of the helicopter and the persons on board are yet to be ascertained as of the time of this report.
The Olubosin of Ifetedo in Ife South Local Government Area of Osun State, Oba Akinola Oyetade Akinrera (Latiiri I), has reportedly joined his ancestors.
Oba Akinrera, the fourth Olubosin of Ifetedo Kingdom, reportedly died on Friday, although the palace has yet to issue an official statement confirming his death.
The monarch ascended the throne in 2018 and was widely regarded by indigenes as a highly respected traditional ruler.
Before his emergence as monarch, Oba Akinrera, a lawyer and public servant, had worked in different capacities, including as a teacher, police officer and staff member of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
He joined the Nigeria Police Force in 1988 and served until 1992, when he joined the NNPC in Lagos.
Born into the Ifetedo community, the late monarch attended CAC Primary School, Ipetumodu, before proceeding to Ifetedo Grammar School for his secondary education.
He later attended the Oyo State College of Education, which subsequently became the Osun State College of Education, Ilesa, and is now the University of Ilesa.
In 1993, he proceeded to Lagos State University, Ojo, where he obtained a Diploma in Law. He subsequently gained admission to the University of Lagos in 1997 to study Law and graduated in 2004.
Following his reported death, tributes have continued to pour in from indigenes and residents of Ifetedo, with social media platforms awash with condolence messages mourning the monarch.
Many of the messages described Oba Akinrera as a respected traditional ruler whose reign contributed to the development and unity of Ifetedo Kingdom.
As of the time of filing this report, the palace had not officially announced the monarch’s death or released details regarding his burial arrangements.
The Imo State Police Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, has revealed that security operatives have identified the location where 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps members abducted in the state are being held.
This comes two days after gunmen abducted prospective corps members travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The victims were travelling in two buses when the attackers struck along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the Umunoha area of Imo State on Thursday.
Naija News reports that Bosso, while giving an update on the search-and-rescue operation in a media interview on Saturday, said security operatives have delayed moving into the camp over fears that it is planted with improvised explosive devices.
Bosso said the police used drones on Friday to locate the suspected camp after security operatives trailed the abductors into the bush, but the security agencies were being cautious because intelligence indicated that the camp had been mined with IEDs.
According to him, the security agencies were preparing to move into the area with heavy equipment, including bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers, in an effort to rescue the victims safely.
He said, “Any moment, we’ll still move into the bush. Yesterday, we were in the bush, we trailed them up to a particular location.
“But at that point in time, we couldn’t move in to where the coordinate showed us where they are because we ran drones yesterday. And the drone actually showed us exactly their location.
“But our predicament is that with the intel we have, the IED is the camp is mined with IEDs.
“We are moving in there with high, you know, high-velocity vehicles, that is, bulldozers, we’re moving in with bulldozers and APCs to see how we’re going to rescue these victims unhurt.”
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