Recently, in a hall full of socio-economic and political mega influencers, technological innovators, and creative geniuses, Softcom shared the N-power Volunteer journey and how technology made it happen.
At this year’s Bola Tinubu’s 66th Birthday Colloquium tagged “Investing in people”, Softcom – the Program’s Technology Partner, presented the N- Power technology story following the speech of the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Job Creation and Youth Employment, Mr. Afolabi Imoukhuede highlighting the continuing success of the N- Power program across Nigeria.
The N-Power program is an initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria serving as a socio-economic investment program designed to provide jobs for young and unemployed Nigerian graduates between the ages of 18-35. It is a paid 2-year volunteering program where they (the volunteers) are provided with resources and training to help them function in their Volunteer jobs. Also, they develop relevant skills for today’s world and improve their employability and entrepreneurial skills.
The program uses technology to achieve skill development on a large scale, as human capacity development is not only one of the Government’s key focus areas but also an important driver for economic development. With this program, the Government aims to reintroduce 500,000 Nigerians into Nigeria’s working population.
Following Softcom’s address on the program’s success and status quo at the colloquium, some called it a pivotal moment attesting to the impact of technology on economic and social empowerment and job creation at the national youth segment level. This is a testament to the fulfillment of a promise made by the current Government to address these national challenges that the N-Power program is able to tackle on a progressive scale since the inception of the program in 2016.
Here are some excerpts of the public address made by the Company’s Chief Solutions Architect – Omoseindemi Olobayo:
“It was an ambitious goal to want to employ and train 500,000 unemployed Nigerian graduates in close proximity to where they live, exciting to see Government’s desire to use technology to fulfill this goal.
For us at Softcom, being at the center of enabling this program was a big responsibility. 3 million applicants applied to the program and 500,000 beneficiaries have emerged under a highly transparent process – devoid of human manipulation. This was achieved using 100% locally developed systems.
The same platform is enabling us to manage volunteer records, deliver capacity development at scale – providing all the learning resources required for them to prepare and deliver on their jobs to excel in the workplace or entrepreneurship.
Technology enables the program to track down payment from when it leaves the Government coffers to when the beneficiaries are paid, and we follow their stories even further to how these volunteers spend their incomes in their local communities and its impact on the macro-economy.
A job means different things to different people; it means relief (from immediate pains and pressure); It could mean security (from uncertainties); it also means hope (for a brighter future).
Over 2m lives have been touched directly as beneficiaries, dependants and support workers in the N-power program.”
With the onboarding of the remaining 300,000 volunteers into the program commencing very soon, more Nigerians are set to reap direct and indirect benefits from the program vis-a-vis social and financial inclusion, job creation, the role of technology in the future of learning in Nigeria and beyond.
A number of the volunteers have started small-scale businesses as entrepreneurs in the Agriculture, Health and Consumer sectors working as groups in cooperatives to put together capital or from savings accumulated over the course of the program. By extending the direct benefits enjoyed from the program (outside of just a stipend), it is exciting to see how thousands of Nigerians previously economically excluded over the last decade, are creating sustainable solutions for themselves and the people that depend on them.
