Buhari assures NIPSS graduates on human capital development

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured graduates of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Senior Executive Course (SEC) 42 that his administration will implement the 12-point recommendation on Population Growth and Human Capital Development in Nigeria.

Buhari, who was represented by Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong, disclosed this on Saturday during the graduation of 78 SEC42 graduates.

According to him, despite the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) disruptions to government’s activities, NIPSS emplaced stringent prevention protocols to ensure that the graduates’ analytical work was not adversely affected and that they completed investigation into policy interaction and implications of Nigeria’s dynamic population growth for human capital development.

Buhari noted that the pandemic impacted the global economy negatively, resulting in increasing expenditure on healthcare and related infrastructure, disrupting supply chains, suspending economic activities and massive job losses.

“Often, when we discuss the condition of our country and whose responsibility it is to change it; we blame those that we refer to as ‘the elite’. In these conversations, the term ‘elite’ is used as a hazy construct referring to a category of powerful persons who seem to be faceless and nameless. Such is the shroud of anonymity in which these elite are cloaked that they often seem like spirits,” he stated.

According to the Director-General of NIPSS, Professor Habu Galadima, Nigeria is in a demographic crisis, characterised by a phenomenally high rate of out-of-school children, youth bulge in the population pyramid, high dependency ratio, as well as high unemployment – all driven by high population growth.

To address the situation, the graduates asked the President to approve the revised National Population Policy 2019 and ensure its effective implementation.