Northern communities need urgent investment in health, education- Shettima

Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has called for urgent investments in health, education and skills development across northern Nigeria, saying the region continues to bear the consequences of inadequate human capital development.

Mr Shettima made the call on Wednesday at the Northern Nigeria Human Capital Development Summit in Abuja.

Represented by Ibrahim Hadejia, deputy chief of staff in the Office of the Vice President, Mr Shettima said no region in the country had paid a higher price for human capital deficits than northern Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the summit was organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation in collaboration with the Northern Nigeria Governors’ Forum.

“There is no part of this country that has paid the price for the inadequacy of human capital as much as northern Nigeria,” Mr Shettima said.

“You have paid for it in the bodies of mothers who do not survive the act of giving life.

“This has also been done 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.

According to the vice president, the North is rich in population, talent and economic potential, but requires deliberate investments in people to transform those assets into prosperity.

He described the summit as a timely opportunity to address longstanding development challenges and close gaps that continue to hinder progress across communities.

Mr Shettima said the Federal Government’s Human Capital Development (HCD) 2.0 Strategy provides a framework for improving outcomes in health, education, nutrition, skills development and livelihoods.

He, however, stressed that state governments have a critical role to play in translating policy into results.

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,” he said.

“No federal programme, no matter how well designed, can educate the child you have not enrolled or save the mother you have not reached.”

Also speaking, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State identified the Almajiri system, out-of-school children and early marriage as some of the biggest barriers to human capital development in northern Nigeria.

Mr Sule said northern leaders must confront the issues honestly, noting that millions of children remain outside the formal education system.

“The elephant in the room is the Almajiri system. We have discussed many issues here, but we must tell ourselves the truth,” he said.

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 said the problem remains widespread, adding that northern states account for about 15 million of Nigeria’s estimated 18 million out-of-school children.

“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.

Mr Sule called on governors, traditional rulers, religious leaders and lawmakers to work together on sustainable solutions, including legislation and expanded access to formal and vocational education.

He said addressing the challenge would require quality education, skills acquisition programmes and social support systems for vulnerable children.

The governor also linked poor educational outcomes to insecurity and poverty, warning that failure to invest in young people could undermine development efforts across the region.

Both leaders called for increased funding for education, healthcare and skills development programmes, urging governments at all levels to translate commitments into measurable action through better financing, stronger accountability and improved service delivery.

The summit brought together governors, ministers, development partners, traditional rulers and other stakeholders to discuss strategies for accelerating human capital development across northern Nigeria.