'From selling akara to installing meters': Nigerians react as Tinubu launches programme to train 5,000 young Nigerians as meter installers

• President Tinubu has launched the Power Force programme to train 5,000 young Nigerians as electricity meter installers and technicians.

• The initiative aims to create jobs, expand smart meter installation and reduce estimated electricity billing.

• Applications open on July 4, with successful trainees to receive technical training and industry certification.

• The announcement sparked mixed reactions online, with some Nigerians criticising the programme while others welcomed the skills development initiative.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has launched a new skills acquisition programme that will train 5,000 young Nigerians as electricity meter installers and technicians under the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), but the announcement has sparked a wave of mixed reactions on social media.

The initiative, tagged "The Power Force," is aimed at creating jobs, accelerating the rollout of smart electricity meters, reducing Nigeria's metering gap and tackling estimated billing in the country's power sector. 

Announcing the programme, Tinubu said it would equip participants with practical technical skills while linking them to employment opportunities across the electricity value chain.

"Through the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), which I established to close Nigeria's metering gap, end estimated billing, protect consumers and strengthen the electricity market, we are opening a new pathway for 5,000 young Nigerians to be trained as meter installers and technicians under The Power Force. This programme is about jobs, skills and dignity," the President said. 

According to the Presidency, participants will undergo intensive training at the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), while certification will be handled by the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA). Successful trainees are expected to be connected with electricity distribution companies, meter providers and other employers in the power sector. The first phase of the programme will begin in Abuja before expanding to the six geopolitical zones. Applications open on July 4 and will remain open for two weeks. 

The government said applicants must be Nigerian citizens between 18 and 35 years old, possess at least a Senior Secondary School Certificate (SSCE) or its equivalent with a science background, have a valid National Identification Number (NIN), and be physically and mentally fit. The programme is also open to members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and students of technical and vocational institutions. 

However, shortly after the announcement, many Nigerians took to social media to express disappointment, with some comparing the initiative to previous conversations around youth empowerment through small-scale businesses such as selling akara, roasted corn and kuli kuli.

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One user wrote:

"From Kuli Kuli to Meter Installers! This government don't rate the youth!"

Another commented:

"Oh... We should not worry about selling corn and kuli kuli again. We've not even finished with that topic, we are already moving to fixing meter. I wonder what comes next... training for how to sweep?"

A third user said:

"The options before the Nigerian youth is to either choose to hawk Akara and kulikuli or hawk meter up and down…. Una really enter one chance for Naija."

Another reaction read:

"Akara, kulikuli, corn seller now meter installers. These people just dey reason like clown. Nigeria is in a deep mess with APC in power."

The online reactions are a reference to remarks made days earlier by the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, while speaking about her office's economic empowerment programme for women. Defending the initiative, she said beneficiaries were given grants—not loans—to start small businesses such as selling akara, roasted corn and kuli-kuli, arguing that such ventures require little capital and can provide a source of income. The comments drew widespread criticism on social media, with many Nigerians arguing that the government should focus on creating more high-paying jobs and improving economic opportunities.

The programme forms part of the Federal Government's broader reforms aimed at improving the performance of Nigeria's power sector while creating employment opportunities for young people through technical training.