On 16 June 2026, NGYouthSDGs joined the British High Commission and the Federal Ministry of Youth Development for a High-Level Dialogue on Nigeria’s next National Youth Policy. Government officials, states, donors, private sector leaders, and youth groups came together to ask one hard question: why did the last policy fail, and what must change?
The last policy had good ideas but weak delivery.
The National Youth Policy 2019–2023 was not short on good ideas. Where it fell short was in delivery. Two problems stood out.
Firstly, funding is messy. Money for youth work is spread across ministries and National Assembly projects, with no single system tracking it. There is no single system that shows how much is spent, where it goes, and whether it matches what the youth policy promised. Most dedicated funding flows through constituency projects, not the Youth Ministry. States do the actual work but lack a clear funding path.
Secondly, accountability was missing. The last policy promised mid-term reviews and an annual State of Youth Development Report but none were published. No institution was named as responsible. No deadlines were set. No consequences followed when targets were missed. When young people and civil society see promises without follow-through, they disengage. That’s what happened.
So what needs to change?
Everyone in the room agreed that Nigeria needs more resources for youth development. Our education spending is still below the 4 to 6 percent of GDP that UNESCO recommends. That gap directly affects youth outcomes. But money alone won’t solve the problem. If you pour water into a leaking bucket, you still end up with an empty bucket.
The dialogue pointed to three fixes. One of which is coordination. An Executive Order is being prepared to make all federal ministries report their youth spending. That Order needs to be signed when the new policy launches. Another is planning. We need a costed National Youth Development Plan under the policy. A clear document that says what will be funded, against which targets, and on what timeline. Lastly, alignment. All public money for youth, whether from the National Assembly, state governments, or federal MDAs, should show how it supports the National Youth Policy before it’s approved. The data from those projects should then feed into one shared tracking system.
States also need a direct, predictable way to access youth funding. They do most of the real work on the ground, yet there is no ring-fenced financing path for them. The Governors’ Forum, Regional Development Commissions, and the Industrial Training Fund were all named as critical partners to change that. We also need to be honest about budget releases, not just budget allocations. We need to start publishing evidence that links youth programs to real results,jobs created, businesses that survive, so we can argue for more funding with facts.
The Bigger Picture: Politics, Inclusion, and Co-Creation.
Three cross-cutting issues kept coming up.
Firstly, even if all youth funding is released, it’s still small when divided across millions of young Nigerians. So reforming how we coordinate and deliver is just as important as finding new money.
Secondly, women remain underrepresented in the National Assembly and in key youth financing decisions. Research shows that more inclusive leadership leads to better governance.
Lastly, youth policy is not just technical. It’s political. We have to understand the real incentives that shape decisions in government, business, and among youth themselves.
Moreover, young people cannot be treated as guests in their own policy. Co-creation means youth and youth organisations have a funded, structured role in running and monitoring the policy and not just showing up for a consultation and then being forgotten.
What Happens Now?
The Federal Ministry of Youth Development has been asked to include youth stakeholders in validating the final policy. We will convene a technical session to map potential co-funders. We will engage the Governors’ Forum on state-level financing. And our communique will go to the Youth Ministry and the relevant National Assembly committees before the policy is finalised.
Nigeria’s young people don’t need another policy that looks good on paper. They need a policy that works in real life. That means money that is tracked. People who are responsible. And youth who are truly part of the process from start to finish.
At NGYouthSDGs, we believe the next National Youth Policy can be different if we choose coordination over confusion, accountability over assumptions, and real inclusion over token consultation. The dialogue in Abuja showed that the will exists. Now we need the systems to match it.
