The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has disclosed that the Federal Government is creating an enabling environment to generate over 50 million jobs for Nigerians, particularly the youth, as part of its commitment to deliver sustained and inclusive growth.
Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday while presenting the Bureau’s scorecard and milestone achievements, the Director-General of BPE, Mr. Ayodeji Gbeleyi, said the government’s strategy includes policy reforms, infrastructure development, entrepreneurship support, skills training, and targeted investments in critical sectors.
According to him, the liberalisation and privatisation of state-owned enterprises remain central to the economic recovery drive. “Our policy objectives aim to reduce inefficiencies, infuse private capital and innovation, dismantle monopolies, reduce debt borrowing, attract foreign direct investment, and most importantly, create jobs,” he explained.
The DG revealed that the government is paying strong attention to human capital development by prioritising education, healthcare, and social investments. He also disclosed that 15 strategic projects under the Bureau are expected to generate N312.3 billion for the 2025 budget through asset sales and privatisation.
On energy reforms, Gbeleyi highlighted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), which is delivering 2.5 million meters across the country. The broader goal, he said, is to deploy over 7 million smart meters to close Nigeria’s metering gap, end estimated billing, reduce energy losses, boost revenue for power distribution companies, and create over 20,000 jobs.
He also cited the telecom sector as a model of reform success, recalling that Nigeria once had less than 400,000 functional telephone lines under the NITEL monopoly. “Today, as of July 2025, the country boasts 169.3 million subscribers, with internet subscriptions at 138.7 million and broadband penetration at 48.81 percent. The sector now contributes significantly to Nigeria’s GDP,” he said.
Gbeleyi stressed that under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the BPE is committed to driving reforms across eight priority areas: economic growth, infrastructure and transport, energy and natural resources, education and healthcare, agriculture and food security, diversification through industrialisation and digitisation, creative industries and manufacturing, as well as security for peace and prosperity.
However, while the projection of 50 million jobs reflects the government’s ambition, analysts note that the figure is far from realistic in the short to medium term. No government in history—whether in China, India, or the United States—has directly created such a massive number of jobs within a few years. In most cases, large-scale job creation of that magnitude occurs gradually, over decades of reforms and sustained private-sector growth.
In Nigeria, past precedents offer a sobering reminder. The Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) under former President Muhammadu Buhari, which promised 15 million jobs by 2020, fell short of its target. Even during oil boom years, net job creation has been in the range of a few million at best.
Experts therefore caution that while BPE’s reform agenda can lay the foundation for long-term growth and attract investments that will stimulate job creation, the 50 million jobs target should be seen more as a political aspiration than a deliverable target. They argue that what is achievable in the near term is creating the right policies, infrastructure, and stability that will empower the private sector to expand and gradually absorb Nigeria’s growing labour force.