Introduction
This high-level engagement brought together a diverse mix of stakeholders from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), youth-led organisations, international development agencies, and government representatives. Convened at the UN House in Abuja with a total attendance of 103 participants (49 male and 54 female), the meeting was a strategic platform designed to strengthen collaboration and ensure that both labour and youth perspectives are fully reflected in Nigeria’s SDG progress narrative.
Central to the engagement was the dissemination of key findings from the Youth Shadow Report and the Nigeria Labour Congress Voluntary National Review (VNR) 2025 paper. These documents provided a critical appraisal of Nigeria’s SDG performance, highlighting achievements, gaps, and priority areas that demand urgent action before 2030. The event created a space for youth leaders, government officials, civil society organisations, ILO and NLC representatives, and development partners to present their unique positions, examine progress to date, and collectively develop pathways for accelerated SDG implementation.
Discussions addressed cross-cutting issues such as gender inequality, rural-urban disparities, mental health, and employment challenges that are both deeply interconnected and central to sustainable development. The event also underscored the need for greater accountability, transparency, and equitable resource allocation, particularly for youth-focused interventions, to ensure no one is left behind on Nigeria’s journey towards the 2030 Agenda.
Welcome Address
Ms. Inviolata Chinyangarara, Senior Specialist in Workers’ Activities at the ILO, opened the session with a warm welcome. She emphasised that collaborative spaces such as this are critical for accelerating progress and underscored the need for synergy between labour movements, youth advocates, and policy actors to ensure inclusive and sustainable development.
Keynote Speeches
Three keynote addresses set the tone for the day:
- Mr. Mohamed Malick Fall, United Nations Resident Coordinator, highlighted the urgency of scaling up implementation strategies for the SDGs, noting that Nigeria stands at a pivotal moment where youth inclusion and decent work are essential drivers of progress.
- Comrade Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), represented by Comrade Benson Upah, stressed the importance of protecting workers’ rights, promoting decent work, and ensuring fair wages in alignment with SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).
- Mr. Sadiq Rabiu, Special Assistant to the President on Capacity Development, reiterated the government’s commitment to building capacity within key sectors, with a focus on workforce readiness and youth empowerment.
Bridging the Policy-to-Practice Gap
Following the keynote addresses, the dialogue shifted to a deeper examination of the gaps between official policy and lived realities, as detailed in two key reports.
NLC’s Labour-Focused Perspective: Dr. Muttaqa Yushau, Director of Education and Policy Research at the NLC, delivered an in-depth presentation of the union’s position paper. He outlined persistent challenges facing Nigerian workers, including wage stagnation, high unemployment rates, and precarious job conditions. The paper put forward a series of labour-friendly policy recommendations aimed at strengthening social protection systems and improving working conditions. Dr. Yushau stressed the importance of localising the SDGs to ensure effective delivery and measurable impact at the grassroots level, highlighting the critical role of trade unions in driving practical change.
The Youth Perspective: The Youth Shadow Report, presented by Ms. Oluwabukunmi Obadeyi, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Manager at NGYouthSDGs, offered a youth-led, evidence-based assessment of Nigeria’s progress on seven key SDGs. Developed through a nationwide survey of 974 youth, the report compared official claims with grassroots realities. While the VNR highlights achievements such as new classrooms and vocational training reforms, young people report persistent gaps in access, quality, and inclusivity. For instance, many face poor service delivery in health and outdated curricula in education, while job creation has not kept pace with the need, forcing many into precarious self-employment. The report called for integrated, youth-friendly health systems, equitable quality education, and bold economic opportunities, backed by sustainable funding and robust accountability frameworks.
Download the Youth Shadow Report
Panel Discussion
The panel session, moderated by Mr. Oluseyi Ogundipe of NGYouthSDGs, featured: Ms. Farida Yahya, Founder of The Brief Academy; Comrade Benson Upah, NLC representative; and Ms. Inviolata Chinyangarara, ILO representative. The discussion focused on actionable solutions to the challenges raised in the reports.
- Ms. Farida Yahya
highlighted the disconnect between an outdated education system and the skills required for the modern workforce. She proposed solutions including reforming the education system to integrate essential skills like problem-solving and digital literacy, investing in digital infrastructure in rural areas, and promoting public-private partnerships. To ensure youth-led recommendations are integrated into policy, she called for a formalised process that begins with identifying community-specific needs and translating them into actionable, funded policy frameworks.
- Ms. Inviolata Chinyangarara
emphasised the importance of a bottom-up approach to development, where solutions are co-created with local communities to address their unique needs and root causes. From an ILO perspective, she stated that the organisation can directly support collaboration between the NLC and youth organisations by working through the NLC’s established structure, ensuring youth voices are heard and development projects benefit everyone.
- Comrade Bello Upah acknowledged the critical role of the NLC in driving development. He outlined strategies for leveraging the NLC’s network to track SDG progress, including empowering local solutions, addressing root causes, and encouraging social dialogue among stakeholders. He also affirmed that the NLC and youth organisations can form a joint advocacy coalition to move beyond dialogue to concrete actions, such as public campaigns and policy proposals, to address shared priorities.
Open Space for Questions
The open-floor session encouraged vibrant and active participation. Participants raised critical issues such as the outdated nature of school curricula and the need for smarter, more innovative employment opportunities for young people. A key focus was on effective mechanisms to hold policymakers accountable for delivering on SDG commitments.
Recommendations and Next Steps
The dialogue concluded with a set of shared recommendations for accelerating SDG progress:
- Co-create solutions: Work with local communities to develop context-specific solutions, using a bottom-up approach that values and builds on local insights.
- Address root causes: Focus on solving the underlying issues rather than just the symptoms, ensuring inclusive and consultative decision-making processes.
- Leave no one behind: Design initiatives that intentionally reach and benefit vulnerable and marginalised groups, and extend social protection to those most in need.
- Foster collaboration: Promote strong social dialogue and multi-stakeholder engagement between trade unions, youth groups, and other relevant stakeholders.
- Build capacity: Provide targeted training and skills development for workers and youth on sustainable development and related issues.
Conclusion
The engagement successfully bridged the perspectives of labour unions and youth advocates, fostering a united front for accelerating the achievement of the SDGs in Nigeria. It underscored the importance of inclusive dialogue, evidence-based advocacy, and actionable commitments. The momentum generated from this gathering will serve as a strong foundation for sustained multi-stakeholder collaboration, ensuring that the ideas and commitments discussed are translated into tangible impact in the months ahead.
