Claim
A publication surfaced online claiming that “the federal government has invited young Nigerians to apply for a ₦22,500 monthly stipend plus free training”.
The content published here on May 11, had garnered 520 likes, 183 comments and 24 shares. The Legit Facebook page has over 7.5 million followers.
It is a publication that appeals to the emotions of Nigerians, at a time that the war in Iran is taking a toll on the nation’s economy, with many facing different levels of hardship triggered by the rise in price of petrol.
Verification
Did the government truly invite young Nigerians to apply for a ₦22,500 monthly stipend plus free training? Let’s find out.
We began the verification exploring an AI Tool – ChatGPT – with an attempt to get where and where this publication had shown up and whether a credible media organisation published this claim.
Prompt Used on ChatGPT: “The federal government has invited young Nigerians to apply for a N22,500 monthly stipend plus free training. Application details in comments. Identify the media organisations sharing this information and check if there are very credible news sources that published it. Also share links to all sources and then check if any government agency published it. Also provide link”.
The response isolated the requests indicated in the prompt and showed that contents related to this claim were published here, here and here, but with different headlines.
Image: Screenshot of publication on msmeafricaonline
Image: Screenshot of publication on legit
Also, to confirm the authenticity of this claim, knowing its viral tendency, we checked if a government agency published it.
We found the publication on the website of the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) via the official TVET portal. Most importantly, this publication offered a more factual position.
Image: Screenshot of the Government portal where the EME TVET Initiative was published
Additional Findings
The government had, through the Ministry of Education, announced a scheme – “Federal Ministry of Education Technical and Vocational Education and Training”.
It invited Nigerians to join what it called ‘the Federal Ministry of Education’s TVET Initiative”, promising that they will “gain industry-relevant technical and vocational skills”.
It is a fully-funded training that comes with monthly stipends, and start-up support for selected trades in high-demand sectors.
From the portal, it is obvious that the stipend is not for all ‘young Nigerians’ as stated on the Legit Facebook publication.
The portal states that the initiative offers:
- Tuition-free training
- Monthly stipends
- Start-up support for selected trades
Only people in selected trades that are in high demand will get the stipend while they get trained.
Conclusion – Verdict = MISLEADING
Going by the government’s publication, the The claim by legit that “the federal government has invited young Nigerians to apply for a ₦22,500 monthly stipend plus free training is based on a real government programme, but the presentation is misleading, as the programme is not offering a general cash grant or palliative to young Nigerians.
