President Bola Tinubu has commended the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU) and other partners for supporting the actualisation of Nigeria’s Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) Project.

Mr Tinubu made the commendation at the 3MTT National Summit 2025, organised by the ministry of communications, innovation and digital economy on Thursday in Abuja.

3MTT was launched in October 2023 with 1.8 million applications from 36 states and the FCT, to close the skills gap.

Mr Tinubu said that from inception, 3MTT was designed to scale and drive sustained transformation of digital and technical skills across the country and urged the youth to remain focused on the larger goal.

Mr Tinubu, who was represented by the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), George Akume, also commended other private sector operators, who gave 3MTT depth and credibility.

“IHS Towers, MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, Google, Microsoft, Huawei, Moniepoint, the United Nations Development Programme and the European Union have each played a part in moving this initiative forward.

“Achieving this vision requires continued collaboration and shared commitment from government, industry and the development community and this government remains fully committed to its growth and expansion,” he said.

In her remarks, the UN representative to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), Beatrice Eyong, said this gesture was a reform over retreat, courage over comfort, and the future over the past.

Ms Eyong said that through the Renewed Hope Agenda, Nigeria had set in motion a national transition anchored on confidence, competitiveness, and opportunity for the people, especially the youth.

“It is a signal to the world that Nigeria’s youth are ready to be the future, not to wait for it. It is a statement of Nigeria’s ambition in the global digital economy.

“Nigeria’s digital economy is now being built with clarity and speed, and we see that here today.

“When leadership meets courage, history changes. UNDP and the United Nations family, we are proud to be your partner on this journey,” she said.

The European Union’s (EU) Ambassador to Nigeria, Guatier Mignot, expressed delight at the EU’s contribution under the global gateway strategy, adding that it was not about providing aid, but leveraging investments from public and private sources.

Mr Mignot said that the gateway from Europe and Nigeria was to create jobs, prosperity and also empower the youth who were at the centre of EU’s work in Nigeria.

He said that the industry standards and certification opportunities paved the way for stronger commercial and economic ties between the EU and Nigeria in the sector.

He noted further that this was a great opportunity for Nigeria and Africa, as well as for the partnership.

“The Global Gateway is actually not about cooperation, it is not about providing aid, it is about leveraging investments from public and private sources.

“What we bring to the table is not just the funding, it is also the EU’s tech business offer.

“The EU tech business, economic sector, innovation, and experience can help shape secure, sustainable, human-centric digital solutions for Nigeria,” Mr Mignot said.

Earlier, the minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, Bosun Tijani, said the first phase of the 3MTT project had produced 15,000 direct jobs with average earnings of over N250,000.

Mr Tijani said: “The jobs are direct jobs in terms of those that we can actually recall that got job opportunities, and this is already over 15,000 in the first batch of the training programme. In terms of income, we’re seeing a lot of these people.

“For some of them, their first job is already having over N250,000 in salary.

“For the future of this programme, we are banking on increased private sector collaboration, so that there are more job opportunities for those that are being trained.

“For a programme of this sort, significant funding is going to be required and for that funding, we must look for a strong endowment to make it happen.”

(NAN)