Kaduna’s human capital investment: developing people alongside infrastructure

By Adamu Lawal Toro

When Governor Uba Sani addressed 4,050 graduates at the maiden graduation ceremony of the Kaduna State Institute of Vocational Training and Skills Development (IVTSD) in Rigachikun on August 26, 2026, he was marking more than the completion of a training programme. He was articulating a broader vision for Kaduna’s future: one that does not require choosing between infrastructure and human capital, but recognises the importance of investing in both.

This approach is particularly significant given the fiscal circumstances the administration inherited in May 2023. The government inherited $587 million and N85 billion in debt, alongside 115 contractual liabilities and debt servicing alone was consuming a substantial portion of the state’s federal allocation.

Despite these constraints, the administration has pursued a development strategy that places human capital alongside infrastructure. Education, skills acquisition, healthcare, agriculture, enterprise and social investment are being treated as interconnected pillars of development.

The IVTSD is perhaps the clearest expression of this approach. Structured around three campuses representing Kaduna’s three senatorial districts the Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa Campus in Rigachikun, the Abubakar Dangiwa Umar Campus in Soba and the Sir Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa Campus in Samaru Kataf the institute extends vocational education beyond its traditional concentration in major urban centres.

Its first graduating cohort of 4,050 trainees, trained across 14 trade areas, demonstrates the scale of the intervention. Courses include electrical installation, welding and fabrication, automotive mechatronics, computer hardware, fashion design, catering and hospitality, plumbing, tiling and solar installation. The programme also incorporates literacy, numeracy, entrepreneurship and soft skills, recognising that technical competence becomes economically valuable when combined with the ability to manage and grow an enterprise.

Importantly, the training is aligned with nationally recognised standards. Through collaboration with the National Board for Technical Education, the institute operates within the National Occupational Standards and the Nigerian Skills Qualifications Framework. This gives vocational competence greater credibility in a labour market where informal skills can be difficult for employers to assess.

However, Kaduna’s human-capital strategy extends beyond vocational education. One of its most significant interventions has been the household mapping of out-of-school children. Rather than relying on estimates, the state undertook a comprehensive exercise to identify children who are out of school, determine where they live and understand the circumstances of their households. The 2026 exercise mapped 187,720 out-of-school children across all 23 local government areas. The Federal Government has subsequently adopted Kaduna’s household-mapping model as a framework for addressing the national out-of-school-children challenge.

This is significant because effective education policy begins with identifying those being left behind. The exercise has reportedly helped Kaduna reduce the estimated number of out-of-school children from approximately 550,000 to fewer than 180,000, while providing government with a stronger evidence base for allocating resources.

The administration has also introduced measures in tertiary education. One of Governor Sani’s early education initiatives was to reduce fees in state-owned tertiary institutions, including Kaduna State University, Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic and the College of Education, Gidan Waya. The policy has made higher education more affordable and contributed to increased enrolment.

The strategy reflects a fundamental principle: access to education is meaningful only when families can afford to keep their children in school.

The same principle is evident in the government’s decision to support IVTSD graduates after completing their training. Governor Sani approved N200,000 for each of the 4,050 graduates a total of N810 million to help them purchase tools, obtain working capital, meet professional registration costs or cover transportation while seeking employment. The government is also pursuing partnerships with companies to create opportunities for employment, apprenticeships, internships, mentorship and subcontracting.

This is where the Kaduna model becomes particularly noteworthy. It does not end with enrolment, graduation or the issuance of certificates. Instead, it seeks to connect training to tools, tools to enterprise, and enterprise to employment.

The wider development programme follows the same logic. The remodelling of Panteka Market into a skills and enterprise hub, investments in healthcare and agriculture, and infrastructure projects are being pursued alongside education and skills development. The underlying message is that physical and human infrastructure should reinforce one another.

The challenges, however, remain substantial. Kaduna must continue to manage inherited debt, contractual obligations, unemployment, poverty and insecurity. Human-capital development cannot produce immediate results, and the ultimate test of the vocational programme will be whether graduates secure sustainable employment or establish successful businesses.

That is precisely why the IVTSD graduation merits attention. It represents an effort to define development in terms broader than roads, bridges and buildings.

A road connects communities. A bridge connects markets. Skilled people, however, build businesses, create employment, maintain infrastructure and drive economic growth.

Kaduna’s emerging development philosophy therefore rests on a straightforward proposition: build the infrastructure, but also build the people who will use, maintain and expand it.

If sustained, this approach may ensure that the state’s most valuable infrastructure is ultimately found not only in concrete and steel, but also in the knowledge, skills and enterprise of its people.

Toro wrote from New GRA Bauchi