The National Pension Commission has advocated that the Federal Government increase its pension contribution for police officers from 10 per cent to 20 per cent.

In a statement released by PenCom on Thursday, it was revealed that the Director General, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, made this call during her visit to the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, at Force Headquarters, Abuja.

This visit followed protests by retired police officers, who decried poor welfare and demanded exit from the Contributory Pension Scheme.

Among the reforms, PenCom is proposing a Health Insurance Scheme for retirees, raising monthly pensions to 75 per cent of a police officer’s final salary before retirement, expanding the Retirement Resettlement Fund, and overhauling the police pension structure.

“She also advocated for the Federal Government to raise its pension contribution for police officers from 10 per cent to 20 per cent, which would substantially boost retirement savings,” the statement partly read.

On calls for the police to exit the CPS, Oloworaran said such a move is unnecessary and counterproductive, emphasising that the issues can be resolved within the scheme. She urged patience and continued dialogue as PenCom and the NPF implement these reforms.

Speaking during the visit, IG Egbetokun commended PenCom’s efforts and reaffirmed the Police Force’s readiness to work with PenCom to resolve police pension concerns.

He acknowledged the challenges police officers have raised and expressed his commitment to engaging constructively to maintain confidence.

Earlier this month, President Bola Tinubu ordered PenCom to resolve the longstanding issue surrounding police pensions, stressing that personnel who serve and protect the nation must retire with dignity and peace of mind.

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The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,has unveiled a $50 million global fund to empower women entrepreneurs in digital trade, warning that global commerce is facing “extremely challenging times” marked by rising unilateralism and protectionism.

The initiative, known as the Women Exporters in the Digital Economy Fund, is a joint effort of the WTO and the International Trade Centre aimed at equipping women-owned businesses in developing countries with the skills, resources and networks to participate competitively in global value chains.

Speaking in her address on Thursday in Abuja, Okonjo-Iweala warned that Nigeria’s low internet penetration, with more than half of the population still offline, could limit the country’s ability to tap into the fast-growing global digital trade market.

Okonjo-Iweala said only 45 per cent of Nigerians are connected to the internet, far below the global average of 67 per cent.

The WTO DG said, “No nation can truly digitise without a steady supply of electricity and reliable, affordable internet. More than half of Nigerians remain disconnected, and this gap must be closed if we are to seize the opportunities of digital trade.”

“This is more than a programme. This is going to be a movement,” Okonjo-Iweala declared. “We want women entrepreneurs not just surviving, but thriving on the world stage.”

The former Nigerian finance minister said the launch comes at a time when total global trade stands at $30.4tn, with digital trade representing the fastest-growing segment, yet Africa’s share remains under one per cent.

“In 2005, digitally-delivered services like IT, consulting and education were worth about $1tn. Today, that figure has quadrupled to $4.25tn,” she noted. “It is an area where Nigeria’s women can and must take advantage.”

This year, the WEIDE Fund is rolling out in just four countries, Jordan, Mongolia, the Dominican Republic and Nigeria. Okonjo-Iweala said Nigeria’s selection followed a fiercely competitive process involving over 600 business support organisations worldwide.

“The Nigerian Export Promotion Council, under Mrs. Nonye Ayeni, stood out with a strong, well-thought-out application,” she said. “This was not man-no-man or woman-no-woman. Nigerians don’t need a Nigerian at the WTO to win, they win on their merit.”

Over 67,000 Nigerian women entrepreneurs applied for the first cohort. While the original plan was to support 100 businesses, the high quality of applications led to the selection of 146 beneficiaries.

“67,000 Nigerian women entrepreneurs applied for the fund. Due to the exceptional quality of entries, the number of beneficiaries was increased from 100 to 146 awardees.
“Sixteen entrepreneurs in the Booster Track will each receive up to US$30,000 and 18 months of technical assistance.

“One hundred and thirty entrepreneurs in the Discovery Track will each get up to US$5,000 and a year of business support.

“Beneficiaries operate across sectors such as agriculture, IT, fashion, hospitality, beauty, and manufacturing.”, she explained.

“These women come from all over Nigeria, from fashion and textiles to IT, tourism, agri-processing, beauty, and home goods,” Okonjo-Iweala said. “They are the heartbeat of Nigeria’s entrepreneurial energy.”

While lauding the government’s $2bn fibre optic project to connect rural and secondary cities, the WTO chief stressed that digital trade cannot thrive without reliable electricity.

“No nation can truly digitise without a steady supply of power,” she warned. “More than half of Nigerians are still offline, just 45 per cent are connected compared to the global average of 67 per cent.”

She called for inter-ministerial collaboration between the ministries of power, communications, women’s affairs, and trade to sustain and scale the initiative.

Okonjo-Iweala lamented that women remain underrepresented in Nigeria’s booming ICT sector, which contributed 18 per cent to GDP in 2022, up from less than 4 per cent in 2001.

“A study found that only 30 per cent of Nigerian tech firms are owned by women,” she said. “We rank 128th out of 148 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report. We can and must do better.”

She urged policymakers to see women’s empowerment as “smart economics” rather than charity, warning against policies like customs duties on cross-border digital trade that could choke small exporters.

“If countries start taxing digital trade, micro and small businesses, especially those run by women, will lose one of their best pathways into global markets,” she said.

Addressing the 146 awardees directly, Okonjo-Iweala said, “You earned this through hard work and vision. Use this moment to dream bigger, scale higher and go further. When I return in two years, I want to see how many more people you have hired, how many new markets you have reached, and how many women you have inspired.”

She concluded, “When women succeed, communities succeed, economies succeed. This is not just a moral case, it is an economic case. Let’s make it happen.”

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The Federal Government has announced a new national skills programme aimed at connecting 20 million young Nigerians to jobs, training, and entrepreneurship opportunities by 2030, with at least 60 per cent of beneficiaries expected to be women.
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‎This is just as Vice President Kashim Shettima has assumed the chairmanship position of the reactivated Board of Generation Unlimited (GenU) Nigeria.
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‎This was made known in a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on media and communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha.
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‎Speaking on Wednesday during the inaugural board meeting of Generation Unlimited Nigeria, Shettima described Nigeria’s youthful population as the nation’s superpower and comparative advantage in a rapidly ageing world.
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‎The GenU board meeting coincided with International Youth Day 2025, themed “Youth Innovation for a Sustainable Future.”
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‎“With over 60 per cent of our population below the age of 25, we cannot afford to squander this asset. An advantage unrealised is merely potential wasted. We must refine it, we must invest in it, and we must channel it towards productive destinies,” the Vice President said.
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Shettima warned that Nigeria’s “national skills ecosystem faces a trilemma” with too many young people excluded from the start, training disconnected from livelihoods, and inadequate infrastructure for large-scale hands-on learning.

“Another isolated training scheme will not deliver us from these constraints. What we need is systemic change—a new architecture built to last,” he added.
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‎The centrepiece of this push is the Digital Access and Livelihoods Initiative, described as a demand-driven national talent pipeline that will link foundational and work-readiness training directly to guaranteed jobs or enterprise pathways.
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‎“We need a platform to unify government, private sector leaders, development partners, and the boundless energy of our youth under a single banner. This is a proposition to attract coordinated investment and replace fragmented efforts with a common front,” Shettima said.
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‎The Vice President pledged that all training under the initiative will align with the National Skills Qualification Framework to ensure that “our young people possess not only the skills to work but the credentials to compete globally.”
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‎Charging the new board, in collaboration with UNICEF and other partners, to proceed with full development and implementation of DALI,
‎ Shettima said, “Let this be the turning point. Let this be the day history remembers as the moment we stopped managing youth unemployment as an inevitable crisis and started unlocking the creative, entrepreneurial, and intellectual capital of our people.
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‎“We owe young Nigerians jobs. We owe them hope. We owe them the future, not just promises, but proof that their country believes in them enough to invest in their success.”
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‎In his remarks, Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, said the administration’s vision is “clear — create jobs, bridge the skills gap, and empower young people through human capital development, not just token gestures.”
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‎“Nigerian youths are not limited. We have the talent, creativity, and courage to thrive. What we need is a meaningful and enabling environment, and we must work together as one team to create and deliver real impact,” he added.
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‎Also, Special Assistant to the President on Strategy and Policy (Workforce Development), Rimamskeb Nuhu, explained that the government had identified three major challenges facing young Nigerians — foundational skills gap, livelihood disconnect, and infrastructure deficit.
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‎“In response, we created DALI, built on two pillars: equipping underserved communities with foundational digital skills and establishing Renewed Hope digital hubs to scale up existing government efforts,” he noted.
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‎The statement noted that over 10 million youth have already benefited in the first four years from flagship initiatives such as FUCAP Campus Ambassadors Programme (with Unilever), Passport to Earning (P2E) with Microsoft, Green Rising, and the Girls’ Education and Skills Partnership (GESP) with FCDO, among many others.
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‎The UN Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Fall, urged stakeholders to “reaffirm commitment to Nigerian youths,” describing them as “the most critical assets of the country and the continent.”
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‎“Every day, Nigerian youths demonstrate their potential. Together, we can drive large-scale impact by leveraging our networks to support initiatives like GenU 9JA — the biggest partnership platform for young people,” Fall added.
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‎Also, UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative and GenU 9JA co-chair, Ms. Wafaa Saeed, said a major achievement of the project was the formal recognition of Youth Agency Marketplace as Nigeria’s national youth opportunities aggregator, a one-stop digital platform connecting young people to skilling, innovation, volunteering, and economic pathways.
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‎“Children and young people must be at the centre of everything we do. This board meeting, coinciding with International Youth Day, reaffirms our shared belief that young Nigerians are not just beneficiaries of development, they are drivers of change. Through GenU 9JA, we are proving that youth-led transformation at scale is possible,” Saeed said.

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