Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, has stated the readiness of his administration to play its role to enable young Abians benefit from the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme 2.0 of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which promises to upskill 20,000 Nigerian youths annually.
Governor Otti gave the assurance in his office at Nvosi Isialangwa South LGA when he received a delegation from UNDP and the Office of the Vice President, led by the UNDP Team Lead, Mr Innocent Ejolu and the Senior Special Assistant on Coordination and Delivery in the Office of the Vice President, Mr Akubo Adegbe.
According to the Governor, Abia State would not hesitate to co-invest in programmes that mirrors its youth development agenda, noting that the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme 2.0 aligns with initiatives already being implemented by his administration.
Governor Otti who assured the delegation that the State is committed to putting resources behind its youth development agenda, directed that technical discussions be handled by the State’s designated focal person to work out the implementation details.
“The devil, they say, is in the details, so our technical team will sit down with you to drill down and understand what exactly is expected of us, and we will definitely handle that.
“You can take it for granted that we put our money where our mouth is.
“The role of government should be that of an enabler. What we are doing is not for profit; we are creating the ecosystem for people to give their best”, Governor Otti said.
The Governor highlighted the State’s TechRise digital skills programme, which has trained and graduated over 1,300 youths, as well as the IBM Leadership Academy, which has empowered about 1,000 young people.
According to the Governor , Abia’s priority sectors include the digital economy, creative industry, energy and leadership development.
He noted that many Abia youths are naturally entrepreneurial noting that many youths prefer starting their own businesses rather than the traditional nine-to-five jobs.
He welcomed the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme stipend model and stressed the importance of meeting young people “where they are” by enabling innovation, entrepreneurship and remote work opportunities.
The Governor underscored government’s role as an enabler and risk-bearer, citing Abia’s intervention in the power sector, particularly the revival of the Geometric Power project as an example of how strategic government action can unlock stalled private investments and drive economic transformation.
Earlier, the UNDP Team lead, Mr Innocent Ejolu,
explained that the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme is a flagship Federal Government initiative funded by the European Union and implemented by UNDP with leadership from the Office of the Vice President.
“It is a 44 million US dollar national investment in human capital. We have placed over 14,000 young Nigerians across all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, passed over 11.9 billion dollars directly into Nigerian households, enabled 70 per cent of fellows to become family breadwinners and supported over 1,080 public institutions and thousands of SMEs”, he said.
Mr Ejolu said the newly launched NJFP 2.0, designed to deploy 20,000 fellows annually nationwide, would offer deeper skills, smarter matching and stronger retention, adding that Abia’s co-investment would unlock priority access for youths in the State.
“This is not a standalone programme. It is a delivery engine embedded within UNDP and Abia State’s Integrated Smart States Programme, where we are in pushing innovation, entrepreneurship, industry, jobs, energy, digital transformation and investment promotion”, he stated.
Mr Ejolu disclosed that in Abia State alone, 30 fellows had been deployed with about ₦330 million injected into the local economy, delivering nearly 70,000 man-hours of skilled labour and strengthening over 31 small and medium-scale enterprises and institutions.
He commended Governor Otti for what he described as visionary and transformational leadership, noting that Abia’s early decision to sign a co-financing agreement with UNDP under the Integrated Smart States Programme had set a national benchmark.
“We are here to discuss one thing: how Abia can scale and sustain youth employment strategically, transparently and at speed”, Mr Ejolu said.
Also speaking, the SSA on Coordination and Delivery in the Office of the Vice President, Mr Akubo Adegbe, stressed the need to domesticate the initiative to avoid the fate of previous national programmes.
Mr Adegbe (on white)
Mr Adegbe explained that Fellows undergo a rigorous selection and preparation process and are paid a monthly stipend of ₦150,000 for 12 months which serves both as an economic stimulus and a social safety net.
He urged the Abia State Government to provide the necessary political backing to galvanize public and private sector participation, mobilise financial contributions into a UNDP-managed national basket fund to ensure sustainability beyond donor support, and offer strategic guidance on priority sectors for deployment to maximise impact and long-term retention.
