Beyond Promises: Shettima Demands Action on Northern Development

Vice President Kashim Shettima has called for urgent and sustained investments in education, healthcare, nutrition, and skills development to reverse the decline in human capital outcomes across Northern Nigeria and unlock the region’s vast potential.

Speaking at the Summit on Enhancing Human Capital Development in Northern Nigeria, themed “Reversing the Decline, Unleashing Potential for Northern Nigeria,” held at the NAF Conference Centre in Abuja, the Vice President, represented by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, said the region’s greatest challenge is not a lack of potential but insufficient investment in its people.
“The North is not poor in spirit, nor in numbers, nor in promise. It is poor in the one investment that turns population into prosperity, and that single deficit has cost us more than any drought, flood, or season of insecurity ever has,” he said.
The Vice President noted that no region in Nigeria has borne the consequences of weak human capital investment more heavily than Northern Nigeria.
Against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding population and increasing global competition for talent and productivity, Shettima described the Human Capital Development (HCD) 2.0 Strategy as the Tinubu administration’s blueprint for building a healthier, better-educated, and more productive population. He said the strategy aims to achieve a Human Capital Index score of 0.6 and secure a place among the world’s top 80 countries by 2030.
He urged governors, policymakers, and development partners to move beyond declarations and focus on measurable outcomes, stressing that states bear the primary responsibility for delivering quality education, healthcare services, and livelihood opportunities.
“The classrooms are in your states. The primary health centres are under your authority. No federal programme, however well designed, can educate a child you have not enrolled or save a mother you have not reached,” he stated.
Highlighting the key pillars of the HCD 2.0 Strategy, the Vice President said the framework is anchored on health, education and skills, labour force participation, and livelihoods, while also integrating food and nutrition, gender inclusion, digital innovation, and climate resilience.
He warned that failing to invest in Northern Nigeria’s growing youth population could threaten future development, noting that countries around the world are rapidly equipping their young people with the skills required to thrive in an increasingly knowledge-driven global economy.
Calling for accountability and decisive action, Shettima urged stakeholders to ensure that commitments made at the summit result in meaningful improvements in the lives of citizens.
“We must resolve that the Northern child born this year will be healthier, better fed, and better taught than the one born before. We must reverse the decline not with grand declarations but with budgets defended, teachers deployed, and clinics equipped,” he said.
A major highlight of the summit was the commitment by leaders and stakeholders to accelerate investments in people and strengthen development outcomes across Northern Nigeria. The gathering brought together governors, policymakers, development partners, traditional leaders, and human capital advocates in a collective effort to turn ambition into action and unlock the region’s enormous human potential.