Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief
The World Bank has identified human capital development as a critical factor for Nigeria to achieve its $1trillion economy goal.
Dr. Ritgat Tilley-Gyado, World Bank Team Lead for Early Years Programme, raised the capital development question at the high-level dialogue on Early Childhood, Productivity and Nigeria’s Growth Choices, in Abuja, today.
“The question is, can Nigeria become a trillion Dollar economy in the current state that the Nigeria’s human capital is where Nigeria’s human capital index is,” she asked rhetorically.
She advised that Nigeria must heavily investment in the health, education and the general development of her children and youth if the desired accelerated growth through high productivity were to be achieved.
The Team Lead noted, “We have huge or modest allocations for basic education. We have modest allocations for primary health care, we have a big fund, National Fund for tertiary education. And I think the question is, where are the investments that are targeted towards Nigeria’s citizens?”
Dr. Joe Abah, Country Director of DAI, in his address called for urgent steps for Nigerians to adopt choices that could lead to accelerated economic growth.
Dr. Abah who is a governance and institutional reform expert said, “When we look at examples from elsewhere, we talk about countries like China, you know, lifting 800 million people out of poverty, more than a billion people now out of poverty in about 30 to 40 years, and isn’t it wonderful?
“Of course, it is. But are we willing to do some of what China does? Are we willing to have one family, one child policy which China had at some point?
“Are we willing to restrict access to the internet? Are we willing to restrict the practice of religion. Are we? So what is it? What are we willing to give up to get what we want and to get these miracles that we like so much?”
Earlier, Mr. Ikemesit Effiong, of the SBM Intelligence, which convened the dialogue with the World bank and other partners, said that over the last decade, Nigeria had made progress on some child survival indicators, but the data showed that the early years remain one of the biggest leaks in the country’s growth strategy.
He stated that stunted growth associated with malnutrition remain a major challenge for many Nigerian children, which hinder them from achieving their full potential, as they grow into adulthood.
His words, “Stunting and early deprivation are strongly associated with lower school attainment, reduced earnings and higher likelihood of poverty in adulthood. Global evidence suggests that losses in the first 1,000 days of life are very difficult—and often impossible—to fully reverse later, even when we invest heavily in schooling or skills programmes.
“When we look at the scale of undernutrition, preventable deaths, and poor early learning environments in Nigeria, what we are really observing is a productivity crisis that arrives 20 years before someone first searches for a job. If we ignore this, we will continue to pour resources into secondary and tertiary fixes while the foundation remains weak.”
According to him, early childhood development was an economic issue and not just a social issue as it affects productivity and the overall economic growth of a nation, therefore requiring urging actions from all stakeholders.
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