Firm tasks FG on improved human capital dev’t index

A consultancy firm, Sydani Group, has called on the Federal Government to improve on the educational access, healthcare and other initiatives, to boost the nation’s Human Capital Development (HCD) index.
The Director of Sydani Fellowship Programme, Mr Sunday Atobatele, made the call on Monday at a roundtable in Abuja.
The roundtable focuses on driving sustainability through a comprehensive analysis of Nigeria’s key development areas.
Atobatele said that HCD had a co-relation with a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He recalled the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund reports revealed that over 50 per cent of the country’s population was aged between 18 and 35.
“This demographic segment holds immense potential for HCD, but they are limited by poor educational access, high unemployment rate, inadequate healthcare services that continued to widen social and economic inequalities.’’
Atobatele explained that HCD was needed to drive economic growth, reduce poverty, promoting social equity and fostering sustainable development.
“During post-COVID era, a lot of young Nigerians expected to be productive and boost our HCD index, took to the alternative of migrating to more productive economies.
“There is a strong correlation with HCD and GDP, because when you have a productive population, you can put out the market value of products manufactured in the country.
“We need to improve our HCD index by empowering people with skills that can help them self-sustain, improve access to education, healthcare and other social development initiatives,’’ Atobatele said.
He said that the HCD index was measured by the survival of a child before five years, access to quality education and healthcare, among other components.
According to him, HCD requires universal primary education, quality teacher training, digital literacy programmes, universal health coverage, disease prevention and control, maternal and child health, infrastructure development, among others.
“Empowerment helps individuals to contribute effectively to their communities and economies. It also enhances workforce productivity, stimulates innovation and strengthens resilience to socio-economic challenges.’’
The director said that the firm partnered with the academia to improve the quality of the graduates from schools, adding that there were gaps between courses in school and the workforce environment.(NAN)