Jobs, AI, And Security: Big Promises, Same Old Questions

By all accounts, it was a good week for press releases. Vice President Kashim Shettima moved from one podium to another talking jobs with the United Nations, launching an AI hub in Lagos, praising Kaduna’s skills model, and echoing President Bola Tinubu’s line that security is the “first currency of progress.”

Fine words. Strong phrases. Clean suits. But strip away the ceremony for a second, what exactly is happening here?

Because if we’re being honest, Nigeria has heard versions of this speech before. Let me start with the United Nations meeting.

We are told the federal government wants to empower youth and women through financial inclusion, skills, jobs, peace, security, you name it. The Vice President called young people the “engine of change.”That line again.

We’ve been calling Nigerian youths “the future” since I was in secondary school. I’m now watching some of those same “futures” ride Okada with two degrees in their backpacks.

So forgive the skepticism. Yes, Nigeria has one of the youngest populations in the world. Median age about 18. That’s not a statistic you throw around casually. It’s pressure. It’s an urgency. It’s a ticking clock. And here’s the uncomfortable part: a youth bulge without jobs doesn’t become a dividend. It becomes a problem. We’ve seen this movie before.

Now, the UN delegation says Nigeria is “vibrant” and that young people are at the heart of it. Of course they are. Walk through Yaba, Kano, Aba, Kaduna, and you’ll see hustle everywhere. Code, tailoring, crypto trading, content creation, mechanics who can fix anything with two tools and stubborn confidence. The energy is there. Nobody disputes that. The problem is structure.

And this is where these partnerships usually collapse. Big announcements, vague timelines, no hard targets. Everybody smiles for the cameras, and six months later… silence.

Wait let me not be unfair. Some things do happen. Workshops. Conferences. A few pilot programs. Then the momentum dies quietly, like NEPA took light and forgot to bring it back.

Now to the AI angle. The Vice President says Nigeria must not be passive in the AI era. Good. That’s one statement I agree with without hesitation.

Because AI is already here. It’s not coming. It’s here. Students are using it to write assignments (badly, I might add). Businesses are using it for customer service. Fraudsters, yes, they too have found ways to exploit it. So when the government says we want to lead Africa in AI, I sit up a bit.

But then a question creeps in, leading with what? Power supply? Internet stability? Research funding? You can’t run an AI lab on a generator that sounds like it’s coughing up its last breath.

I remember visiting a tech hub in Abuja in 2021. Brilliant young developers. One guy was building a logistics algorithm that could beat some foreign platforms. Halfway through our conversation, the light went out. The generator refused to start. Everybody just sighed. No drama. They were used to it. That’s the environment we want to build AI dominance in. Think about that.

The UniPod project at the University of Lagos sounds promising, with students, researchers, and industry collaboration. That’s the right direction. Universities shouldn’t be lecture factories. They should produce solutions. But we’ve said this before too.

Remember when polytechnics were supposed to lead technical innovation? Or when ICT hubs were launched across states? Some worked. Many didn’t. Why? Maintenance culture. Funding gaps. Politics. Ego. Pick any.

Let’s shift to Kaduna’s skills council.

Now this one, this one has potential.

A structured, state-level approach to skills development tied to actual workforce needs. Not random training programs where people learn tailoring in a community that already has 200 tailors fighting for customers.

Skills must match demand. If Kaduna gets that right, others will copy. That’s how reform spreads in Nigeria, not from federal directives, but from states quietly proving something works.

Still, one model won’t fix a national problem. We have over 20 million out-of-school children, according to some estimates. Millions more are underemployed. And we’re talking about councils and frameworks.

Important, yes.Enough? Not even close.

Then comes the big one, security.

“Security is the first currency of progress,” President Tinubu said. I paused when I read that. Because that line carries weight. It sounds like something you’d write on the wall of a war room.

And he’s right. You can’t build anything on chaos. Investors don’t go where bullets are louder than business plans. Farmers won’t plant. Traders won’t travel. Schools won’t stay open. Everything shuts down. So yes, security first. But Nigerians are not grading speeches anymore. They are grading outcomes.

Kidnappings. Banditry. Urban crime. Cybercrime. It’s all still there, staring us in the face. And here’s the tricky part,people are tired. Not the loud social media kind of tired. The quiet, resigned kind. The kind where someone hears about another abduction and just shakes their head and keeps walking. That’s dangerous.

The government says it will invest in training, intelligence, equipment, and welfare for police. Good. Necessary.

But let me ask a blunt question,when last did you see a police officer who looked motivated? I’m not talking about parade days. I mean everyday policing.

The average officer is underpaid, overstretched, and often poorly equipped. Then we expect world-class performance. It doesn’t work like that.

And yes, accountability matters too. You can’t demand public trust while ignoring misconduct. Nigerians have long memories when it comes to police excesses. So reform has to be both ways, support and discipline.

Back to the bigger picture.Jobs. Skills. AI. Security. Partnerships.

On paper, it looks like a coordinated push. Everything seems connected.

But here’s where I struggle

and maybe you do too. We keep hearing the right words. Execution is where the story breaks. Always.

We’ve had economic plans before. Vision 2020. ERGP. You remember those? Some parts worked. Many didn’t. Not because Nigerians are incapable, but because continuity is rare and accountability is selective.

Every administration starts fresh, like history began the day they took office. And we keep recycling problems. Let me throw in a quick thought, no, wait, let me correct that.

The problem isn’t that we lack ideas. Nigeria is drowning in ideas. Sit in any barbershop or taxi and you’ll hear solutions that make sense. The problem is discipline. Institutional discipline. Policies are announced without timelines. Projects are launched without metrics. Officials move on without consequences. That’s where things fall apart. To be fair, there is a window here. Youth population—huge. Technology—expanding. Global partnerships—available.

If these pieces are aligned properly, something could shift. Not overnight. Nothing in Nigeria changes overnight. But gradually, steadily.But that “if” is doing a lot of heavy lifting. And before someone says I’m being too critical, fine, maybe I am. But Nigerians have earned the right to be.

We’ve seen too many announcements that led nowhere. Too many “historic moments” that disappeared after the cameras left. So now, people listen differently. Less excitement. More scrutiny. Where does that leave us? Watch the details. Watch budgets, not speeches. Watch timelines, not launch events. Watch whether these UniPods are still functioning in 18 months. Watch whether skills programs lead to actual employment or just certificates gathering dust.

Watch whether security improves in real terms, fewer attacks, safer roads,  and no press briefings. Because at the end of the day, this isn’t about partnerships or policies. It’s about results. Real ones.Anything else… we’ve seen before.