Vice-President Kashim Shettima has approved the constitution of a multi-sectoral committee to drive the goals of the Human Capital Development (HCD) programme of the Federal Government.
Sharpedgenews reports that Shettima constituted the committee on Monday after a meeting with World Bank’s Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Also in attendance were the Chairman of the Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote; Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Mr Tony Elumelu and the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, among others.
Shettima stressed the need for government and partners to invest in human capital development to create a workforce that was not just globally competitive but also adaptable to the modern demands of the 21st century.
“This gathering marks our collective recommitment to redirecting the promise and potential of our human capital towards safeguarding the economy.
“It is an honour to host you and I eagerly anticipate celebrating the success of the initiatives uniting us.
“Our presence today signifies a tacit understanding that our future is intricately linked to the development of our human capital.
“We have witnessed the growing shift towards knowledge and service-based economies and the advantages they offer, particularly to our youths.”
He acknowledged the significant impact the two Nigerian wealthy businessmen, Dangote and Elumelu, have had on the population.
Vice-President Shettima noted that every society rises and falls depending on the quality of its leadership.
Earlier, Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Pate, underscored the importance of investing in human resources.
He noted that going forward, stakeholders involved in the Human Capital Development programme of the Tinubu administration would reinforce and harness existing data.
“This will ensure accountability and accuracy in the implementation of programmes and projects under the initiative.”
Pate said that the renewed efforts to fast-track human capital development across different levels and tiers of government would attract interest from all stakeholders, including international partners and donor organisations.
For his part, Dangote commended the foresight of the Vice-President to convene the meeting.
According to him, it underpins the commitment of the Tinubu-led administration to address challenges around human capital development.
He, therefore, pledged support for the administration’s HCD programme and called on stakeholders to work diligently to tackle the challenge of inaccurate data.
He described the situation as the biggest problem in the effort to address human capital development.
“You know, it is about partnership, what we have between us and the Federal Government; we’ve been on this for a very long time.
“It has to do with three things; health, education and jobs and I think the Minister of Health, Prof. Ali Pate, we started with him right from the beginning.
“We started with him; he brought us together, Aliko Dangote Foundation, Bill Gate and Melinda Gates foundation.
“So our own, as philanthropists, is to partner with the government and make sure that they do what is right and also to put our money on the table; and we are ready to do so,” Dangote said.
Similarly, Elumelu pledged his support for the Federal Government’s initiatives to develop Nigeria’s Human Capital.
“The meeting with the Vice-President was convened to bring us, critical stakeholders, together for human capital development in Nigeria.
“We have a lot of young ones and, every year, about three million young people enter the job Market.
“We need to think about these young people, we need to think about our future as a country.
“We need to prioritise our young ones, we need to develop them to give them economic hope and opportunities so that we can collectively develop and say no to extremism and yes to prosperity.
“I am happy this is happening under this government and I am happy that the Vice-President convened all of us to support this initiative,” Elumelu said.
Also, the World Bank Country Director, Nigeria, Chaudhuri, pledged the Bank’s support for the HCD programme of the Federal Government in the areas of technical assistance and strengthening of databases.