The Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, said President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms will soon encourage Nigerians abroad to return home.

Economic hardship and deteriorating security in the country have forced medical professionals and other skilled workers to seek better opportunities in America, Europe and Asia.

Speaking after receiving an award from the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, as part of the monarch’s 10th coronation anniversary in Akure, Olawande said Tinubu is laying the foundation for a future where Nigerian youths are globally competitive and less eager to migrate in search of better opportunities.

He said: “Everything the President is doing now is for the future.

“I promise you, in the near future, everybody will prefer to come and stay in Nigeria than remain abroad because the country is being stabilised.”

The minister added: “The President has done everything to create an environment for youths to thrive,” Olawande said. “The challenges we face today are the results of decades of neglect.

“Before President Tinubu came into office, young people couldn’t feel the impact of governance. But now, things are changing, structures are being put in place.”

According to him, the ministry is collaborating with agencies and parastatals to deliver training and development programmes that will not only empower youths but also help stabilise the economy.

Olawande said: “There are 40 years of breaking. “Youths have not been able to see, touch, or feel the government.

But now, we are putting all structures together—skills, education, partnerships—to bring them back into the fold.”

The minister said during his recent diplomatic mission to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), he engaged in youth development collaborations, a move, he said, signalled the growing international recognition of Nigeria’s new youth agenda.

He said: “I happened to be the first black Nigerian man that would visit that place and they gave me access to it, just because of what the President is doing.”

The minister, who is from Akure, called for unity among political actors in the kingdom, urging stakeholders to bury personal ambitions for a greater collective goal.

He praised the Deji of Akure for honouring him and acknowledged the monarch’s efforts in promoting unity and development in the kingdom.