HCD Summit: Shettima calls for urgent investment in Northern Nigeria

Vice President Kashim Shettima has called for urgent and sustained investments in education, healthcare, nutrition, and skills development to reverse the decline in human capital outcomes across Northern Nigeria and unlock the region’s immense potential.

Speaking at the Summit on Enhancing Human Capital Development in Northern Nigeria, themed “Reversing the Decline, Unleashing Potential for Northern Nigeria,” held at the NAF Conference Centre, Abuja, the Vice President, who was represented by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, said the North’s greatest challenge is not a lack of potential but inadequate investment in its people.

“The North is not poor in spirit, nor in numbers, nor in promise. It is poor in the one investment that turns population into prosperity, and that single deficit has cost us more than any drought, flood, or season of insecurity ever has,” he said.

The Vice President noted that no region in Nigeria has suffered the consequences of weak human capital investment more deeply than Northern Nigeria.

Against the backdrop of a rapidly growing population and increasing global competition for talent and productivity, the Vice President described the Human Capital Development (HCD) 2.0 Strategy as the Tinubu administration’s roadmap for building a healthier, more educated, and productive population. He said the strategy targets a Human Capital Index score of 0.6 and a ranking among the top 80 countries globally by 2030.

He urged governors, policymakers, and development partners to move beyond declarations and focus on measurable outcomes, stressing that states hold the primary responsibility for delivering quality education, healthcare, and livelihood opportunities.

“The classrooms are in your states. The primary health centres are under your authority. No federal programme, however well designed, can educate a child you have not enrolled or save a mother you have not reached,” he stated.

Highlighting the pillars of the HCD 2.0 Strategy, he said the framework focuses on health, education and skills, labour force participation and livelihoods, while integrating food and nutrition, gender inclusion, digital innovation, and climate resilience.

He warned that failure to invest in Northern Nigeria’s growing youth population could undermine future development, noting that countries across the world are rapidly equipping their young people with the skills needed to compete in an increasingly knowledge-driven global economy.

Calling for accountability and action, the Vice President urged stakeholders to ensure that commitments made at the summit translate into tangible improvements in the lives of citizens.

“We must resolve that the Northern child born this year will be healthier, better fed, and better taught than the one born before. We must reverse the decline not with grand declarations but with budgets defended, teachers deployed, and clinics equipped,” he said.

A major highlight of the summit was the commitment of leaders and stakeholders to accelerate investments in people and strengthen development outcomes across Northern Nigeria.

The gathering brought together governors, policymakers, development partners, traditional leaders, and human capital advocates in a shared effort to translate ambition into action and unlock the region’s vast human potential.