Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Friday unveiled Nigeria’s vision to accelerate human capital development by the year 2030.
He made the presentation during the extended National Economic Council (NEC) meeting at the old Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja.
Noting that 112 million Nigerians were living in extreme poverty in 2012, he said that the Buhari government introduced the Social Investment Programmes (SIP) to change the story.
He said that the Buhari’s administration is now on the right path and everything must be done to stick to the path.
He said: “About nine months ago we convened a similar gathering here at the State House, along with some of our most supportive partners and philanthropists, to discuss this very vital issue of Human Capital Development.
“The debate that followed made it very clear to all that this issue is perhaps the most important in our country today. What can be more important than the well being of the people we serv.
“As a government we are fully aware of this, and are committed to ensuring that we positively transform the Nigerian experience as it relates to the quality of life and wellbeing of our people.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that Nigeria has struggled with debilitating levels of poverty for several decades, in spite of our huge potential. Indeed the result of last poverty study done by the NBS in 2012 showed that 112 million Nigerians were living in extreme poverty.
“When we came into office in 2015, three things were very clear: one, that we needed to move quickly and ambitiously in our response to the issues of poverty and malnutrition and disease and illiteracy.
“Two, there would be no quick fixes or miracles cures. It would be a long and painful journey out of the status quo. And we would need to be patient and consistent in the implementation of our interventions.
“Three: just as we are reaping in the present the consequences of the poor decisions we have taken in the past, we can change the consequences that await us in the future by changing the decisions we take is in the present.
“These realisations have guided us over the last three years, even as we have developed a vision for a Nigeria that is healthy, educated and positioned to fully unleash its development potential.
“This is what informed the creation and implementation of our Social Investment Programme, which is now the largest in Africa; a multi-faceted intervention simultaneously targeting poverty, hunger, unemployment, financial exclusion, and the absence of skills needed for our large youth population to thrive in the 21st century.” he
He also disclosed that every country that has taken significant numbers of its population has had to put in place a robust Social Investment Policy.
“India which had the largest number of poor people in absolute terms did exactly what we are doing….microcredit, government jobs programme, school feeding, cash transfers etc,
“Since that March meeting, the Social Investment Programme has seen a significant expansion. We have added more than 2 million children to our School Feeding Programme, we now have in excess of 9 million school children being fed daily across 26 States.
“N-Power, our Jobs Scheme for unemployed graduates has more than doubled since then, to cater to 500,000 beneficiaries. And our Trader Moni Microcredit scheme for petty traders excluded from formal lending opportunities has now benefited well over a million people. Market MONI which started earlier had benefitted
In terms of healthcare, we have recorded a landmark accomplishment: the setting up of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund, with seed funding of 1 percent of our Consolidated Revenue Fund, as outlined in the National Health Act.
“I am pleased to say that Nigeria is for the first time complying with these stipulations since the Act was signed into law in 2014. The Vision to accelerate Human Capital Development by 2030 has the….All of what I have listed above are efforts and input.
“Ultimately it is the outcomes that are most important. We must be able to show that all of what we are doing and investing is producing tangible results in the quality of lives of our citizens.
“The end goal is a country, where it is not a miracle for infants to live to and beyond the age of 5, where our children are in no danger of malnutrition, where every child is guaranteed access to quality basic education, where a basic minimum package of healthcare benefits is guaranteed to every citizen and no one is shut out because of the cost,
Nigerians everywhere deserve to live healthy, educated and productive lives, regardless of where in Nigeria they live or what God they worship or what language they speak.”
By the nature of Nigerian constitutional arrangements, he said that the Federal government must work with State governments and the State governments must work with each other on the issue.
He added “The only way to succeed is by recognizing that this is a joint and several responsibility. This is not and should never be a platform for blame-games and buck-passing.
“These have not worked in the past, and will not work now. Nothing short of concerted collaboration is required from all of us, across all tiers of government and with the partnership and support of the private sector, traditional and religious and community leaders, and the international community.
“There is much learning to be shared and exchanged, to ensure that we are not repeating mistakes that have already been made, and to ensure that we are allocating resources in maximally efficient ways.
“Very importantly, there is the work of communicating, of carrying Nigerians along, making the vision clear and simple to them, and transparently showing how the resources – which belong to them – are being deployed to work for their benefit.
“We must never underestimate the importance of communicating and ensuring that we get the buy-in of the citizens on behalf of whom we are holding public office.
“Last but not the least is the importance of collecting credible data to support our programmes and policies and to accurately measure their impact. What cannot be measured, it has been said, cannot be managed. The wisdom of this truism should always stay with us.
“We must find ways of improving the quality of the data we collect, and the timeliness. And we must resist the temptation to play politics with these statistics, or be overly defensive when they don’t cast us in very good light.
“The lesson is to listen to what the data is telling us, and to vigorously look for ways to respond robustly with policy interventions.
“I have no doubt that we are on the right path. But we must stick to this path. We cannot afford anything that will slow us down or take us away from these commitments that we have started implementing.
“We owe it to all the people of Nigeria, young and old, male and female, especially the poorest and most vulnerable amongst us, to improve the quality of lives they lead, and the quality of healthcare, education and jobs accessible to them.
“It is now my special, pleasure to present Nigeria’s Vision to Accelerate Human Capital Development by 2030.” he said.