The Niger Delta Youth Employment Pathways (NDYEP) project was implemented by the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) with funding support by the Ford Foundation to address youth unemployment and underemployment in the Niger Delta. Following the conclusion of the two-year project which lasted from 2018 to 2020. PIND’s Executive Director, Dr. Dara Akala speaks with JUSTICE NWAFOR about the project’s impacts.
What are the current challenges impeding youth employment in the Niger Delta?
Systemic and structural factors impede youth employment in the Niger Delta. Let me start with the systemic issue. University graduates these days are not adequately prepared for the world of work. This is because the educational curricula have not been tailored to meet the needs of employers. The core of the unemployment problem is that skills being supplied into the employment market are not what is in demand. This is often referred to as skills mismatch.
As regards the structural factor, when you look at the size and structure of the Niger Delta economy, the absorptive capacity is very low. The dominant sector in the region is the oil & gas sector, which employs less than one per cent of the labour force. So, we find that the opportunities for waged employment are few and far between.
How did the NDYEP project try to address this?
The first thing we did was to carry out a labour market assessment in the pilot states of Abia, Akwa Ibom and Rivers, to try and understand the skills in demand and how the suppliers are delivering them in the market. We also tried to understand the ecosystem of players – on the policy side, users, providers, and even the potential trainees – with a clear intention to identify opportunities and roles for each player. Having understood what skills are in demand, the NDYEP project developed a theory of change and proceeded to design models of job readiness or workforce development that equip the youth with market-relevant skills in the identified growth sectors of aquaculture, ICT/solar energy, construction and finished leather. This program combined technical, soft/behavioural skills with entrepreneurship and supporting their transitioning into work. We then presented the project beneficiaries with two clear pathways to jobs – either through formal waged employment or entrepreneurship.
Now that the NDYEP project has come to an end, to what extent were the project expected objectives achieved?
I would say to a large extent. We had planned to train some 4,000 youth over two phases and we exceeded that number by training 4,355 youth, out of which 1933 have transitioned into waged-employment or self-employment in key sectors, including agriculture, ICT, construction, renewable energy and finished leather goods. Another 671 are currently undergoing apprenticeship or internship to further upgrade their skills in a process of continuous learning and development. The thing to bear in mind is that the number of people that have found jobs or have established their own businesses is not static, but constantly changing as more people find new opportunities. We are constantly monitoring these changes. So, we have developed a working model that helps move many youths from joblessness into sustainable employment.
Another key objective of this project was to galvanize the states in the region to adopt or adapt the NDYEP model in their various employment creation programs. The result here has been mixed and the rate of uptake has not been as fast as we had hoped for. Nevertheless, states like Delta, Akwa Ibom and Abia have signified their interest and are adopting several components of the NDYEP model.
What long-term transformative change did the project make on communities and sectors, institutions and youth?
We have had a significant level of investment in various skills acquisition programs in the region and these have been with varying degrees of success. From the feedback we have received so far from employers, the fact that the NDYEP project integrated soft skills into its program is transformational. The behavioural skills that the youth learnt on the program have made them approach work with the kind of professionalism that has not been seen before this time. More so, because the soft skills training included elements of conflict sensitivity and peacebuilding, which is extremely needed amongst youth in the region.
With regards to institutions, I am not going to speak about educational institutions, but take a broader view by looking at private sector training providers — consulting firms, NGOs, ICT hubs, etc — and government departments and agencies. As regards the government, we have sown a seed and there is an increasing realization that there is a need for a re-think of the approach to employment creation programs by making sure that education or training programs are directly linked with the ultimate employment opportunities.
On sectors, before the commencement of the NDYEP, if you are looking for a vibrant ICT hub then you’d be thinking of Lagos or maybe, Abuja. However, with the contribution of the NDYEP project, the Niger Delta region, especially Aba and Port Harcourt are beginning to provide competition for Lagos and other big ICT centres.
We have so many people living with disabilities who are unemployed. How did the NDYEP project incorporate gender equality and social inclusion in the design, implementation and what were the results?
The NDYEP project was quite deliberate in promoting inclusivity during the program implementation. PIND Foundation is a very gender-sensitive organization and right from the outset, we had pursued a policy of inclusion of women, youth and people living with disabilities (PWDs) in all our programs. So we set a target of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Strategy (GESI) of 40 per cent participation in programs. This was how we provided access and opportunities to female participants and PWDs. As regards the results, I am pleased to inform you that over the two phases of the pilot project, not only did we meet the target, we surpassed it and the overall achievement stood at 42 per cent.
What factors contributed the most to the attainment of the NDYEP project and results?
The sub-granting model is a key success factor. Through the use of sub-grants, we were able to identify private sector training providers that were able to design training curricula to meet the training needs in each of the sectors of program intervention. A major emphasis on the NDYEP approach is strengthening the ecosystem of actors and this was achieved by supporting implementing partners drawn from the various sectors.
Another factor that contributed to the achievement of results was the competency focus of the training programs. The training programs were practical and hands-on to equip the learners with technical skills to make them function effectively in the workplace. In partnership with the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), we were able to develop a competency framework for the construction sector that is linked with the National Vocational Skills Qualification Framework. The goal is to have these technical training programs to be accredited by the NBTE. Allied to this competency focus is the integration of several dimensions of training, namely: technical, soft/behavioural skills and entrepreneurship.
What hindered the project implementation and results?
When the NDYEP project was conceptualized, it was to demonstrate an innovative approach to youth employment creation in the region. The whole idea was that the state governments would be able to take up the model and help upscale it. This has not happened to the extent anticipated even though there are some green shoots of what is possible with the sub-national governments.
Additionally, the entrepreneurship pathway has also been slower than anticipated in delivering jobs because of the slow pace of approval of business loan applications by the banks, even though this was the pathway that created the most opportunities for participants in the second phase that just ended and continues to hold great promise for the future.
Finally, we are aware that Covid-19 had a negative impact on virtually everything in 2020. The NDYEP project was not an exception, but we did find ways to adapt and build resilience to it.
How do you think the model can be adopted by the state governments and other stakeholders to address youth unemployment?
As you may be aware, the key operating principle of the NDYEP project is skills development (or, education) for employment. So, this is the fundamental principle that we would like the state governments to imbibe to underpin their employment creation programs. And, there are different ways by which the State governments can achieve this, even with their current investments in various programs. For example, in the education sector in each state, the government can take a look at the curriculum from the secondary through the tertiary levels and explore the injection of life skills and soft skills to prepare them for self-employment later on in life.
How are the benefits of the NDYEP project likely to last now that the PIND/Ford Foundation funding has ended?
Without a doubt, I believe the benefits of the NDYEP will be around in the region for a very long time. This is because we built some excellent sustainability strategies. We have strengthened the capacity of the implementing partners who are largely private sector training providers. Since this is their business, they have the incentive to keep offering NDYEP training programs for a fee, albeit on a reduced scale.
The other assurance that I have that the benefits would be sustained is the fact that the state governments are adopting and adapting some elements of the model. In Akwa Ibom, the design of the youth employment creation program is being modelled after NDYEP, and Start Innovation – an NDYEP implementing partner – has been engaged to drive aspects of the program implementation throughout the state. In Delta State, which is not even one of the pilot states, elements of the NDYEP model are being adopted in the Graduate Employment Enhancement Program (GEEP) and the Youth Agric Enterprise Program (YAGEP). This is also true of Edo State where the NDYEP program inspired the training of 200 youth in solar panel installation and maintenance in collaboration with GIZ and the Edo skills development Agency (Edojobs).
Though the NDYEP project funded by the Ford Foundation has ended, the project model and its ideals can never come to an end.
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