Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has vowed that the growing informal sector and low labour force participation occasioned by the staggering unemployment rate in Nigeria must be reversed, noting that this is what the Human Capital Development (HCD) programme was designed to avert under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Senator Shettima gave the assurances on Saturday during the launch of the Nasarawa State Human Capital Development Strategy Document & Gender Transformative Development Policy Framework held in Lafia, the state capital.
He emphasized that the Tinubu’s administration’s goal was to empower Nigeria with globally competitive skills. The strategy, he noted, would enable Nigerian workers to excel both domestically and in the international job market.
Nasarawa State’s commitment to the Human Capital Development (HCD) programme, a lifeline for our nation, is built on the collective realization that enough is enough.
“Enough of the distressing data on our education system -whether it is the mean age of schooling, the high pupil-to-teacher ratio, or the staggering number of youths not in employment, education, or training.
‘’The unemployment rates, the growing informal sector, and low labour force participation must be reversed,” he said.
Vice President Shettima noted that the quest for a reversal of the nation’s human capital challenges is at the heart of the HCD Programme, which focuses on workforce development, education, and health-critical work he said the Tinubu administration has undertaken at the national level.
Shettima said the unveiling of a blueprint for Nasarawa’s future was a reaffirmation of the administration’s shared belief that the way forward for the nation lies in solutions fashioned to suit the unique realities of each state.
He regretted what he described as the tragic reality of the ECOWAS region being ranked the lowest in the global Human Capital Development Index, assuring however that it should not be something to feel disheartened about.
“Rather, it is an invitation for every country, and indeed sun-national entities, to rise to the challenge, he added, pointing out that “every child must have access to quality education, equitable healthcare, even as the nation’s workforce must be equipped with the skills necessary to thrive in the 21-century economy,” Shettima said.
