Renowned Professor of Capital Market Studies and President of the Capital Market Academics of Nigeria, Uche Uwaleke, has proposed a N774bn federal intervention programme aimed at establishing vocational and digital skills acquisition centres in all 774 local government areas of the country.
Uwaleke who said this during at interview on Arise News Channel said the grant would serve as a strategy to tackle unemployment, stimulate grassroots economic activities and translate recent macroeconomic gains into tangible benefits for ordinary Nigerians.
He argued that while recent economic reforms have helped stabilize key macroeconomic indicators, millions of Nigerians continue to grapple with rising poverty, unemployment, declining purchasing power and economic hardship.
According to him, the country has recorded notable progress in macroeconomic stabilization through reforms such as fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate unification, improved fiscal discipline and increased investor confidence.
However, he noted that these gains have yet to significantly improve living conditions at the grassroots level.
He observed that economic activities have become increasingly concentrated in a few urban centres, leaving many rural and semi-urban communities with weak local economies, rising youth unemployment and limited opportunities for productive engagement.
To address the challenge, Uwaleke proposed a one-time seed capital grant of N1bn for each of the country’s 774 local government areas, bringing the total intervention fund to N774bn.
The proposed funding, he said, would be dedicated exclusively to the establishment of Mega Vocational and Digital Skills Acquisition Centres designed to equip young Nigerians with employable skills and support enterprise development.
“The challenge before policymakers is no longer simply how to stabilize the economy, but how to reconnect macroeconomic recovery to grassroots welfare improvement, productive employment generation and local economic revitalization,” he stated.
According to him, the centres would provide training in areas including digital literacy and information technology, electrical installation and maintenance, welding and fabrication, fashion and garment production, renewable energy systems, agro-processing, auto mechanics, building technology and other technical trades relevant to local economies.
Uwaleke said the initiative would help expand employable skills among Nigerian youths, strengthen digital inclusion, support self-employment, reduce rural-urban migration and create decentralized hubs for economic transformation across the federation.
He argued that the intervention should be implemented simultaneously across all local government areas rather than through pilot programmes, stressing that economic challenges facing communities are national in scope and require a nationwide response.
On funding, the economist suggested that resources could be sourced from special federal intervention appropriations, extraordinary revenues, dividend arrangements from national assets and a negotiated portion of distributable national revenues.
The varsity don also outlines a governance framework intended to avoid the creation of new bureaucratic agencies.
Instead, he recommended leveraging existing institutions and community structures to drive implementation and oversight.
Under the arrangement, each local government area would establish a community-based implementation board comprising traditional rulers, youth leaders, women representatives, professionals and community development stakeholders.
State governments and host communities would provide land for the centres, while local communities would participate in project monitoring, maintenance and protection of facilities.
At the federal level, Uwaleke proposed that existing institutions such as the National Directorate of Employment provide technical supervision and programme standardization, while statutory oversight bodies including the Office of the Auditor-General, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission ensure accountability and compliance.
To strengthen transparency, he also recommended the deployment of a centralized digital portal through which project allocations, procurement records, implementation milestones, audit reports and training outcomes would be publicly disclosed.
Uwaleke acknowledged concerns about elite capture, corruption and weak inter-agency coordination but argued that the programme’s design incorporates safeguards such as milestone-based disbursements, public disclosure mechanisms, independent audits and community participation.
He maintained that the initiative is not intended as a recurring welfare programme but as a productive intervention capable of rebuilding local economies through skills development, enterprise creation and increased economic participation.
According to him, meaningful national transformation can only be achieved when economic recovery is felt at the community level, making grassroots empowerment a critical component of Nigeria’s long-term development strategy.
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