The Government of Akwa Ibom State has begun training of technical group and council members on human capital development.
The training is aimed at addressing poverty and other socioeconomic issues to spur sustainable growth and improve life expectancy in the state.
In his opening remarks, the State Focal Person, Mr Uduak Isaac, said the state government would continue to invest in the three thematic areas of human capital development.
Isaac said the state government must improve its investment in the three thematic areas of health and nutrition, education and labor force participation.
In his remarks, Dr Olusoji Adeniyi, South South Regional Consultant, Human Capital Development Programme, urged Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) involved in human capital development to take it very seriously.
According to Adeniyi, human capital development had been neglected over the years due to poor understanding, noting that human capital development was not human capacity development.
He said: “That misconception is what we need to clear. Human capacity development is a component of human capital development.
“Human capital development has three major pillars as enumerated by the World Health Organisation and the World Bank, which include: health and nutrition, education, as well as labor force participation.”
Adeniyi added that the world no longer wanted to measure development by Gross Domestic Products (GDP) but rather wanted to see real development.
He said that there must be real development on the lifestyle of the people, on longevity in terms of extended lifespan of citizens.
“It is also the concept that a child born today has a good chance of survival in the infancy from zero to five and not dying from childhood diseases.
“As the child is growing up, the nutritional status of the child is also very important such that the child develops all his mental capacity to be able to read and study in school.
