By Abujah Racheal
Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima has called for urgent investments in health, education and skills development across northern Nigeria, warning that communities in the region continue to bear the consequences of inadequate human capital development.
Shettima, represented by Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the Vice President, said this at the Northern Nigeria Human Capital Development Summit in Abuja.
The summit was organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation in collaboration with the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF).”
According to him, no region in the country has paid a greater price for human capital deficits than northern Nigeria, citing poor maternal health outcomes, low school enrolment and limited opportunities for young people.
“There is no part of this country that has paid the price for the inadequacy of human capital as much as northern Nigeria.
“You have paid for it in the bodies of mothers who do not survive the act of giving life, in the minds of children who are never taught to read, and in the talents of young people who carry the weight of a region without the tools to lift it,” he said.
The Vice President said the North was rich in population, talent and potential, but required deliberate investments in people to transform those assets into prosperity.
He described the summit as a timely intervention, saying the focus should be on confronting development challenges and closing the gaps that have hindered progress across communities.
According to him, the Federal Government’s Human Capital Development (HCD) 2.0 Strategy provides a roadmap for improving outcomes in health, education, nutrition, skills development and livelihoods.
He urged governors and other stakeholders to take ownership of the human capital agenda, noting that schools, primary healthcare centres and frontline service providers fall largely within the responsibility of state governments.
“The classrooms are in your states. The primary healthcare centres are under your authority. The teachers, nurses, midwives and community workers are all in your employ.
“No federal programme, no matter how well designed, can educate the child you have not enrolled or save the mother you have not reached,” he said.
Also speaking, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State identified the Almajiri system, out-of-school children and early marriage as major obstacles to human capital development in northern communities.
Sule said northern leaders must confront the issues honestly and collectively, noting that millions of children remained outside the formal education system across the region.
According to him, Nasarawa State repatriated more than 200,000 Almajiri children to their states of origin during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of efforts to address the challenge.
He, however, said the problem persisted, adding that northern states account for about 15 million of Nigeria’s estimated 18 million out-of-school children.
“The elephant in the room is the Almajiri system. We have discussed many issues here, but we must tell ourselves the truth.
“If we are serious about human capital development, we must address out-of-school children, early marriage and the conditions that continue to keep young people out of education,” he said.
The governor called on northern governors, traditional rulers, religious leaders and the National Assembly to work together on sustainable solutions, including legislation and expanded access to formal and vocational education.
He stressed that tackling the challenge required creating alternatives for vulnerable children through quality education, skills acquisition and social support programmes.
He also linked poor educational outcomes to insecurity and poverty, warning that failure to invest in young people could undermine development efforts across the region.
The Vice President similarly warned that countries failing to invest in their youthful population risk being left behind in an increasingly knowledge-driven global economy.
“Our youthful population, the largest asset we possess, becomes either the engine of our renewal or the source of our instability.
“The difference is decided by whether we invest in them now or abandon them to chance,” he said.
Both leaders called for increased funding for education, healthcare and skills development programmes to improve human capital outcomes and unlock the region’s economic potential.
They urged governments at all levels to translate commitments into concrete actions through better funding, improved service delivery and stronger accountability mechanisms.
The summit brought together governors, ministers, development partners, traditional rulers and other stakeholders to discuss strategies for accelerating human capital development in northern Nigeria.
