Shettima holds meeting with Dangote, Elumelu, others

Vice President Kashim Shettima, on Monday approved the constitution of a multi-sectoral committee to drive the goals of the Human Capital Development (HCD) programme of the Federal Government.

Shettima constituted the committee after a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, with World Bank’s Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri.

Also in attendance were the Chairman of the Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote; Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Mr Tony Elumelu, and the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, among others.

Shettima stressed the need for government and partners to invest in human capital development to create a workforce that was not just globally competitive but also adaptable to the modern demands of the 21st century.

“This gathering marks our collective recommitment to redirecting the promise and potential of our human capital towards safeguarding the economy.

“It’s an honour to host you and I eagerly anticipate celebrating the success of the initiatives uniting us.

“Our presence today signifies a tacit understanding that our future is intricately linked to the development of our human capital.

“We have witnessed the growing shift towards knowledge and service-based economies and the advantages they offer, particularly to our youths.”

He acknowledged the significant impact Dangote and Elumelu have had on the population.

The vice president noted that every society rises and falls depending on the quality of its leadership.

Earlier, Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Pate, underscored the importance of investing in human resources.

He noted that going forward, stakeholders involved in the Human Capital Development programme of the Tinubu administration would reinforce and harness existing data.

“This, according to him, will ensure accountability and accuracy in the implementation of programmes and projects under the initiative.

Pate said the renewed efforts at fast-tracking human capital development across different levels and tiers of government, would attract interest from all stakeholders, including international partners and donor organisations.

On his part, Dangote, commended the foresight of the vice-president in convening the meeting, noting that it underpins the commitment of the Tinubu administration to address challenges around human capital development.

Dangote, who pledged support for the administration’s HCD programme, called on stakeholders to work diligently towards tackling the challenge of inaccurate data.

He described the situation as the biggest problem in the task of addressing human capital development.

“What we have between us and the Federal Government is all about partnership. We’ve been on this for a very long time.

“We started with the Health Minister, who brought us together, Aliko Dangote Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. So our own as philanthropist is to partner with the government.