Earn While You Learn — But Are They Actually Paying? FG Opens TVET Cohort 2 With ₦22,500 Monthly Stipend Amid Unpaid First Batch Complaints
Summary
The Federal Government has opened applications for the second cohort of its Technical and Vocational Education and Training Programme, offering young Nigerians tuition-free skills training and a monthly stipend of ₦22,500 across accredited centres in all 36 states and the FCT. Applications for the new cohort commenced on April 13, 2026, with the Minister of Education, Maruf Tunji Alausa, describing it as a strategic intervention to equip young Nigerians with industry-relevant skills for a rapidly evolving economy. But even as the government celebrated the launch, social media erupted with complaints from first cohort beneficiaries who say they have received little to nothing in stipend payments since the programme began with some reporting only one or two payments, and others saying they haven't received a single kobo.
Over 1.3 million Nigerians applied for the first batch. That number alone tells you something important not about the government's competence, but about the hunger out there. Real, grinding, daily hunger for opportunity.
The Federal Government opened the second cohort of its Technical and Vocational Education and Training programme on April 13, 2026, inviting Nigerians to enrol in a nationwide skills development initiative designed to tackle unemployment and build a more technically capable workforce. The pitch is straightforward and, on paper, genuinely attractive. Participants receive intensive six month or one year hands-on training at accredited centres across all 36 states and the FCT, a monthly stipend of ₦22,500 throughout the training period, nationally recognised certification upon completion, and possible access to startup support kits after graduation. No tuition. No repayment. Just show up, learn, and get paid while you do it.
Minister Alausa, announcing the second phase on his X handle, said last year's 1.3 million applications were "a powerful reminder of the growing demand for practical skills" and called on every Nigerian, young or old, with a dream and a hardworking spirit to sign up. The ministry also disclosed a new collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Arts, Culture, and Tourism, targeting creative and cultural trades as part of an effort to unlock Nigeria's growing creative economy and expand employment pathways for young people.
Good. All of that sounds good. But here is the part of the story that the ministerial press releases were not going to include.
Almost immediately after the Cohort 2 announcement dropped, the replies filled up with frustrated voices from first cohort participants. "I am among the first batch beneficiary. I am up to date. I have never received a penny in the name of a stipend, and there are a lot of people like me who received only some two," wrote one participant, addressing the minister directly. Another comment, equally direct: "You stopped paying the first cohort just after the first month. Hell, that was even for the ones that started in November last year. You haven't paid one single kobo for the batch that started in January, but here you are doing God knows what!"
These are not trolls. These are participants in the government's own programme. And their complaints point to a pattern that has followed Nigerian social intervention schemes for years the announcement arrives with fanfare, the first few payments come through, and then the money stops while the beneficiaries are left waiting, with no official explanation and no timeline for resolution.
The government did release ₦4.7 billion in December 2025 as the first tranche of payments to trainees and accredited centres under the programme which suggests the money exists, at some level. But whether it is reaching the people it is meant for, consistently and on time, is a different question entirely.
Training, for the second cohort, is scheduled to begin nationwide on May 18, 2026. Applications are open now through the official TVET portal.
Analysis
The TVET programme is one of the more credibly structured youth empowerment initiatives the Tinubu government has put forward. Unlike some of the broader cash transfer programmes that have been harder to track and easier to criticise on delivery grounds, TVET has a clear model accredited centres, defined trades, a stipend, a certificate. The scaffolding is there. The idea is sound. Which is precisely why the stipend payment failures matter so much. A programme that combines skills training with financial support only works if both parts of the deal hold. The moment the stipend side of the equation breaks down and based on what first cohort participants are saying publicly and directly to the minister, it has broken down for a significant number of them the entire programme risks being reframed in public perception as yet another government scheme that performed better at the press conference than at the payment portal. This isn't a small problem to smooth over with a new cohort launch. The minister cannot credibly ask 1.3 million Nigerians to trust a second round of applications when a meaningful number of first round participants are still owed money from months ago. The confidence gap that creates is real, and it will shape uptake, word of mouth, and ultimately the programme's long-term impact more than any ministerial statement ever could. What the government needs to do urgently, before the May 18 training start date is publish a clear, public reconciliation of which first cohort beneficiaries have been paid, how much, and when outstanding payments will be cleared. Not a vague assurance. A number. A date. A mechanism. That level of transparency would cost nothing and would do more for the programme's credibility than any press release about creative economy partnerships. Nigeria has young people who are willing genuinely, desperately willing to show up, learn a trade, and build something. The ₦22,500 stipend is not a fortune. But in 2026 Nigeria, it is enough to keep a young person in training rather than on the street. The government should honour that bargain. Every single month. Without needing to be reminded.
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