By Nana Musa
The National Human Capital Development (HCD2.0) Programme is targeting improved workforce productivity through better health, education, skills and livelihood opportunities.
The National Coordinator HCD 2.0, Rukaiya el-Rufai, said this at a media engagement in Abuja on Monday.
El-Rufai, who is also Special Adviser to the President on NEC and Climate Change, said that human capital remained central to Nigeria’s development.
She said the strategy was designed to build a healthy, educated and skilled population capable of contributing meaningfully to economic growth.
According to her, HCD 2.0 focuses on improving health outcomes, strengthening learning and skills, and increasing labour force participation.
The national coordinator said that the strategy also addressed barriers limiting women and young people from participating in the economy.
She said that the country needed to move beyond policy intentions by translating human capital investments into measurable outcomes.
“A strategy is only as powerful as the action it generates,” she said.
El-Rufai said that effective implementation would require sustained investments, stronger accountability and evidence-based decisions on policies and resource allocation.
According to her, data will help stakeholders identify gaps, measure progress and determine where additional interventions were required.
“The initiatives and innovations are already being implemented across states to improve human capital outcomes,” she said.
She, however, said that significant gaps remained and called for stronger efforts to accelerate results.
“Improving the quality of Nigeria’s workforce will help expand economic opportunities and enable more citizens to participate productively, ” she said.
El-Rufai urged the media to spotlight successful initiatives and draw attention to areas where implementation was falling short.
She said that journalists could help connect policy decisions with their impact on ordinary Nigerians, particularly women, young people and workers.
The national coordinator said that stronger collaboration among government, development partners, institutions and the media was necessary to advance HCD objectives.
El-Rufai urged government to continue working to provide credible data and accessible information on human capital development.
She said that investments in people’s health, education, skills and livelihoods would shape the country’s economic future.
“Nigeria’s greatest resource is its people,” she said.
She urged stakeholders to keep human capital development at the centre of national planning and economic discussions.(NAN)
Edited by Kadiri Abdulrahman
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