Vice President Kashim Shettima has called on the 36 state governors to intensify efforts in implementing Human Capital Development (HCD) programs across their states. Speaking at the HCD Steering Committee meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday, Shettima emphasized that Nigeria’s progress hinges more on the quality of its human capital than on its natural resources or industrial capacity.
He stressed that the country’s future in the 21st century would be determined by the strength of its workforce, the education of its children, and the well-being of its communities. Calling for urgent and decisive action, he urged state governments to focus on five key indicators for tracking HCD progress and ensure regular meetings of State HCD Councils to keep human capital development at the core of governance.
Shettima highlighted President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s commitment to prioritizing people over politics and investing in capacity building. He noted the expansion of the HCD Steering Committee to include more cross-sector stakeholders, strengthening governance structures. He also cited impactful state-level interventions, such as Nasarawa State’s Project Fuuku, which distributed over 1,000 clean cookstoves to vulnerable households, demonstrating the link between HCD and environmental sustainability.
To track progress, Shettima called for a nationwide survey to collect real-time data on key indicators such as health, education, and workforce readiness. He emphasized the need for data-driven decision-making and innovative financing strategies beyond government funding. He urged the Private Sector Partnership Group, development partners, and corporate leaders to view human capital development as an investment in economic prosperity rather than a charitable endeavor.
Minister of Finance Wale Edun reinforced the importance of human capital development, stating that economic expansion without it is futile. He urged more focus on an educated, skilled, and healthy population, as the world increasingly looks to Africa’s growing youth demographic.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country Representative Elsie Attafuah commended Nigeria’s commitment to human capital development, citing initiatives such as the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP) and the Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program. She noted that Nigeria’s development would be driven by human resources rather than natural resources and revealed plans to establish technology hubs in state universities to nurture ideas in technology, business, and industry.
Special Adviser to the President on National Economic Council (NEC) and Climate Change, Rukaiya El-Rufai, provided an update on HCD governance restructuring. She outlined efforts in stakeholder engagement, advocacy, and securing an ECOWAS grant, as well as the development of an HCD dashboard to track progress in health, nutrition, education, and labor force participation nationwide.
The meeting underscored the administration’s commitment to strengthening human capital as a foundation for Nigeria’s long-term development.