Posted by Chinenye on Tue 06th Oct, 2026 - tori.ng
A new warning about Nigeria’s education system is raising concern, with officials saying many children are going to school but still struggling with basic reading.
(Nigerian children. Photo by Daily trust)
About 70 per cent of Nigerian children under 10 cannot read and understand a simple sentence, according to the National Human Capital Development Programme.
The National Coordinator of Human Capital Development 2.0, Rukaiya el-Rufai, said this on Monday in Abuja at a media engagement on the country's human capital strategy.
She is also Special Adviser to the President on the National Economic Council and Climate Change.
She said being in school does not mean children are actually learning the reading and number skills needed to work and earn well.
She said learning poverty is very high at about 70 per cent, and that for children aged 10 to 12 the World Bank puts it at 85 per cent.
El-Rufai said the problem goes beyond the education sector, because weak basic learning stops young people from picking up the advanced skills industries need.
She gave the example of the Dangote Refinery, saying workers could not easily be trained as welders during its construction because the job needs geometry.
She said this leaves many youths out of work, school and training.
The HCD 2.0 programme is focusing on health, education, skills and livelihoods.
Six priority areas have been picked: under-five deaths, stunting, immunisation, out-of-school children, learning poverty, and youth not in employment, education or training.
The programme has also moved from counting activities to tracking results that can lift Nigeria's Human Capital Index.
It works through the National Economic Council, which links the Federal Government and the states.
El-Rufai said results differ widely between the north and south, so one plan cannot fit all.
Each state is now building its own human capital plan based on its own challenges.
Data will be used to decide where help and resources are needed most.
The programme's Director of Advocacy and Communications, Doosuur Zasha, said investing in people is central to Nigeria's growth.
She asked the media to track progress and hold governments to account for how they spend on human capital.
HCD 2.0 grew out of the earlier Human Capital Development initiative under the National Economic Council.
It is backed by partners including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Aliko Dangote Foundation.