Vice-President Kashim Shettima has stressed the need to reverse Nigeria’s low labour force participation caused by the high unemployment rate.
Shettima made this commitment during the launch of the Nasarawa State Human Capital Development Strategy Document and Gender Transformative Human Capital Development Policy Framework in Lafia, the state capital, on Saturday.
He highlighted that the administration’s aim is to equip Nigerians with globally competitive skills, enabling them to thrive both in the local and international job markets.
“Enough of the distressing data on our education system—whether it is the mean years of schooling, the high pupil-to-teacher ratios, or the staggering number of youths not in employment, education, or training. The unemployment rate, the growing informal sector, and low labour force participation must be reversed,” Shettima said.
He added, “This is the dystopia our Human Capital Development Programme is designed to avert, under the mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. For so long, at the National Economic Council, we have debated the ideal nation we wish to build and the pathways to achieve it.”
The Vice President also lamented the grim reality of the ECOWAS region ranking lowest in the global Human Capital Development Index, but noted that this was a call to action for all countries and states to rise to the challenge.
“Every child must have access to quality education, equitable healthcare, and the nation’s workforce must be equipped with the skills necessary to thrive in the 21st-century economy,” he emphasised.
Shettima commended the leadership and vision of Governor Abdullahi Sule, attributing Nasarawa’s launch of the strategy document and policy framework to his forward-thinking approach.
He also announced that the federal government has moved beyond the first phase of the Human Capital Development Programme by adapting strategies to current realities and transitioning from theory to implementation. Nasarawa’s participation at this crucial stage, he said, signals progress.
Earlier, Governor Sule expressed gratitude to stakeholders for their support of the Human Capital Development programme. He highlighted that the Nasarawa State Investment and Development Agency was established to strengthen the state’s economy.
He assured that youths in the state would be positively engaged in sectors such as agriculture, health, and entrepreneurship, and that the state’s strategic document on Human Capital Development would be strictly implemented to guide interventions across various sectors.
