Vice President Kashim Shettima, on Monday, approved the constitution of a multi-sectoral committee to
drive the goals of the Human Capital Development (HCD) programme of the federal government.
Shettima constituted the committee after a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, with the World
Bank’s country director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri. Also in attendance were the chairman of the Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote; founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Tony Elumelu, and the coordinating minister of health and social welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, among others. Mr 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’s an honor 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.
He acknowledged the significant impact Dangote and Elumelu have had on the population.
The vice president noted that every society rises and falls depending on the quality of its leadership.
Earlier, Mr. Pate underscored the importance of investing in human resources.
He noted that going forward, stakeholders involved in the Human Capital Development programme of
the President Bola Tinubu administration would reinforce and harness existing data.
Mr. Pate said the renewed efforts at fast-tracking human capital development across different levels and
tiers of government, would attract interest from all stakeholders, including international partners and
donor organizations. Mr. Dangote commended the foresight of the vice president in convening the meeting, noting that it underpins the commitment of President Tinubu’s administration to address challenges around human capital development.
Mr. Dangote, who pledged support for the administration’s HCD programme, called on stakeholders to
work diligently towards tackling the challenge of inaccurate data.
He described the situation as the biggest problem in the task of addressing human capital development.
Also, Mr Chaudhuri pledged the bank’s support for the HCD programme of the federal government in
the areas of technical assistance and strengthening of databases.
