The Federal Government has urged the media to intensify scrutiny of its human capital development programmes as it targets a significant improvement in Nigeria’s Human Capital Index by 2030.
The National Coordinator for Human Capital Development 2.0 and Special Adviser to the President on NEC and Climate Change, Rukaiya el-Rufai, made the call in Abuja during an engagement on the implementation of the Nigeria Human Capital Development Strategy 2.0.
El-Rufai said Nigeria’s 135th position in global human capital rankings underscored the need for stronger implementation, accountability and measurable results in health, education, skills development and livelihoods.
She said the strategy could not succeed as a policy document alone, stressing that its success would ultimately be determined by improvements in the lives of Nigerians.
“The scale of the HCD challenge requires us to move beyond policy intentions to concrete, measurable results,” she said.
El-Rufai urged journalists to interrogate government performance, track implementation and expose gaps in human capital programmes rather than merely reporting policy announcements.
“You can ask the difficult questions. You can bring evidence into the national conversation. You can highlight what is working, identify where progress is falling short,” she said.
She described the media as a strategic partner in the implementation of the HCD agenda, saying journalists could help sustain public attention on areas requiring policy intervention while highlighting successful programmes across the states.
According to her, stronger collaboration between HCD institutions and the media would improve access to credible data and enable journalists to engage directly with institutions and communities implementing human capital programmes.
The Human Capital Development Strategy 2.0 seeks to promote a healthy and inclusive Nigeria with an educated workforce by focusing on health outcomes, learning and skills, labour-force participation and livelihoods.
El-Rufai said particular attention would be given to expanding opportunities for women and young people to develop their capabilities and participate fully in the economy.
She said the government’s immediate priorities included accelerating results, strengthening accountability and ensuring that evidence increasingly informed policy decisions and resource allocation.
Nigeria continues to face challenges including poor learning outcomes, limited access to quality healthcare, youth unemployment, skills gaps and low labour-force participation.
El-Rufai said addressing the challenges was critical to ensuring inclusive economic development, stressing that “Nigeria’s greatest resource is its people”.
The World Bank’s 2026 Human Capital Index Plus places Nigeria’s human-capital score at 131 out of 325, above the Sub-Saharan African average of 126 but below the lower-middle-income country average of 153.
Note: I rendered the stated 2030 target as 0.60 rather than 0.06, as the latter appears to be a typographical error given the stated starting point of 0.36 and the direction of the target.
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