I consider Bill Gates opinion (As wrongly interpreted by the media) as opinion base on nice to have which does not conform to the reality on ground in Nigeria.

Human capital development is a good thing. So also is Infrastructural development a good thing. While Bill gates believe human capital should be the priority, the federal govt Economic Recovery Growth Plan believes the most critical thing Nigeria needs now is radical infrastructural development with some level of human capital development alongside. I strongly believe that to grow human capital, u need good economy. The government believe through infrastructural development (good roads, rail way and power) that people will be able to use their individual ability to grow the economy at least in the short to medium term. Human capital as defined by Bill Gates is Education and Health care.

Let's look at it in Nigeria context. There is currently huge unemployment in Nigeria. There is unemployment even among those who went abroad such as UK, US etc to study before returning back to Nigeria. Which means even among few well developed human capital (Well educated youths with good health) in Nigeria, there is lack of opportunity for them to utilize all the resources that have been spent developing their human capital capacity. Even those who are making attempt to use their talents, skills (human capital capacity) to grow the economy are frustrated and made less productive because of poor infrastructure.

America govt with a population of 326 million people spend about 700billion dollars( 210 trillion Naira) a year for their K-12 education. American K 12 is Nigeria primary and secondary school. Nigeria has a population of 200million people. Which means if we are to follow America full step we should be spending 130 trillion Naira a year for only primary and secondary education. America Fed govt spent 3.2 trillion dollars (1000 trillion Naira) on health care. If we are to follow US full step we will need to spend 600trillion naira on health care every year. So by US standard Nigeria needs about 730 trillion naira annually to develop human capital.

Nigeria full annual budget is less than 9 trillion Naira with the actual expected revenue around 6trillion (The extra that made it about 9 trillion is deficit to be borrowed). That is the budget for defence, agriculture, Salaries, health, education etc. if Nigeria is to stop borrowing, stop looting, stop paying civil servant salaries and pension, stop paying army, etc we cannot even achieve 1% of what is required for Human Capital by America standard.

What does that tell us? It means the country is too poor to develop it's human capacity effectively.

What is the way forward? Nigeria like every other poor country must first develop it's economy before it can better fund human capital development. Human capital development cannot be achieved by wishful thinking. it involves huge investment . U need good economy to fund good human capital development. Yes good human capital will help to further develop the economy.

I have strong respect for Bill gates as the richest man in the world for over 22 years ( though sometimes he do come 2nd). Bill gates is rich because of the opportunities that abound in the United state. Bill gates is not an economist.

This issue or debate is like an arguments of Chicken and Egg which came first. No matter how complex the topic may be, some things are clear. You cannot grow Human Capital when the economy is very poor. You cannot grow the economy under very poor infrastructure. and a poor country cannot grow infrastructure when it focuses on consumption. For Nigeria to grow its economy, it will require a lot of sacrifice from both the leaders and the people.

What we need now, is to focus on how to create opportunities for the few well develop human capital we already have. So that they can use their skills and talent to boost the economy, which will further help to develop more sound human capital. The little human capital we have been able to develop over the years are wasting because of lack of opportunities and development. Infrastructure will help to some extent in solving the challenge.


I will also advise the govt to copy south korea as a template for development. South korea govt refused to accept america advise and they rather chosed thier own path. And today it is very successful. In the case of south korea, it is the growth of thier export businesses that lead to growth of human capital capacity. Bill gates does not understand Nigeria reality. Below is UK guardian report on how South Korea grew its economy. I think Nigeria govt should learn from it in their anti corruption fight. We need to convert all corrupt Nigerians with millions and billions to Dangote like South korea did.

....South Korea, under strongman Park Chung-Hee, focused on building up large economic champions, or chaebols (business conglomerates), against American advice to focus on small- and medium-sized companies.

That policy laid the foundation for successful South Korean brands in the world market, such as Samsung and LG, although it came at a price in terms of political corruption in the close ties between business and political elites. KoFID and ReDI argue that the focus on conglomerates led to the chaebols exploiting their monopoly status, fostering increasing economic inequality.

Park took a pragmatic approach to corruption. Instead of cracking down on corrupt businessmen as urged by the US, he expropriated their bank shares and assigned them to invest in import-substitution industries, such as fertilisers, a point made in Catalysing Development, a book on aid edited by Homi Kharas, Koji Makino and Woojin Jung.

Whatever its faults, the South Korean regime did not squander the aid it received, unlike Mobutu in the DRC's previous incarnation, Zaire. As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank looked the other way, Mobutu looted the country, building himself palatial follies in his mother's home village in the remote bush in Gbadolite, complete with an airport that could accommodate Concorde for shopping trips the Mobutu clan would make to Paris or New York.

While the DRC stands out as a model of development to be shunned, South Korea, as well as Vietnam provide pointers on how development should be done.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/nov/28/south-korea-development-model


For those who may disagree with me, I am not arguing with you on the importance of human development purely on theoretical bases. We are discussing reality here. Nigeria has some well trained human capital who are idle, under employed and under utilized. While we believe in continuous growth of human developedment, optimising and getting high returns from the ones we already have is important and crucial. As we utilize the existing human capital efficiently, the economy will grow.

We are aware of many talents who waste in Nigeria but blossom with the same talent when they go abroad. They succeed abroad because the environment creates opportunities which makes it possible to utilised acquired skills and capacity.

I am from Niger Delta. I am aware of many of my people who embrace amnesty who have been trained abroad and today are well skilled. Today, many of them are still idle because there are no opportunity to utilised their human capacity that was developed with billions of Naira.

We must face reality. We need to build opportunities in Nigeria.

But excuse me, Op who ask. you?

as long as you're not nigeria's president, you opinion does not count

Op, you are nothing just as your opinion is irrelevant.

Ok

Rubbish bill gates is a world richest man, nobody knows you, so IF YOU NO GET MONEY HIDE YOUR FACE, stop defending buharis clueless ness just because you are a blind follower

life2017:
I[s] consider Bill gates opinion as opinion base on Nice to have which does not conform to the reality on ground in Nigeria.

Human capital development is a good thing. So also is Infrastructural development a good thing. While Bill gates believe human capital should be the priority, the federal govt Economic growth plan believes the most critical thing Nigeria needs now is infrastructural development. I strongly believe that to grow human capital, u need good economy.

Let's look at it in Nigeria context. There is currently huge enemployment in Nigeria. There is unemployment even among those who went abroad such as UK, US etc to study before returning back to Nigeria. Which means even among few well developed human capital (Well educated youths) in Nigeria, there is lack of opportunity for them to utilise all the resources that have be spent developing their human capital.


America govt with a population of 326 million people spend about 700billion dollars( 210 trillion Naira) a year for their K-12 education. American K 12 is Nigeria primary and secondary school. Nigeria has a population of 200million people. Which means if we are to follow America full step we should be spending 130 trillion Naira a year for only primary and secondary education.

Nigeria full annual budget is less than 9 trillion Naira. That is the budget for defence, agriculture, Salaries, health, education etc. Which mean if Nigeria is to stop paying civil servant, stop paying army, etc we cannot even achieve 10% of what is required for primary and secondary school education by America standard.

What does that tell us? It means the country is too poor to develop it's human capacity effectively.

What is the way forward? Nigeria like every other poor country must first all develop it's economy before it can better fund human capital development. Human capital development cannot be achieved by wishful thinking. it involves huge investment . U need good economy to fund good human capital development. Yes good human capital will help to further develop the economy.

Sometimes this issue is like an arguments of Chicken and Egg which came first.[/s]

what we have can't develop diz country I think what we should focus on is how to make more money and spend less/ borrow less Tho op is right to a point but what we need for this country to grow is to encourage the growth of our local producers have more billionaires I mean more human capital schemes if this country have more than 200 legitimate billionaires who are not into oil Nigeria would be fine

Is this another lame attempt to absolve Buhari of glaring incompetence ? If yes then may God forgive you

The major problem lies with our politicians. How can Nigeria develop when all our politicians are corrupt.


The US believes that education is the paramount thing a good government should give to its citizens. They know the value of education thereby spending much on education.


In Nigeria, our educational system is in shambles, every year we experience strike, which has now become a norm in Nigeria. Our politicians are so corrupt to care about the masses. How can a senator take #13.3 million, a principal official in the national assembly takes #30 million. What is their duty?


Nigeria has all it takes to be a great nation but, corruption has concealed the conscience of our politicians.

Bill gate is a business man not president of USA . so he know nothing about governing or government policy I'm not surprise about his statement, I'm not even give Bleep what I know buhari till 2023. Bleep that son of bitch.

Make una Divide this country make I find my way jare

Bill gate is not is not in the class of people to tell me how economy should be run.
Idiotic pigs of Biafra and PDP are not sensible.

That is how their ineffectual buffoon abandoned infrastructural (physical)development and human capital development, the only thing they know is how to empowered people with corruption.

Gate was right but pmb is not wrong about his EGP,

Without investing in critical sectors of our nation, our economic reform effort will yield no result,

And investing in human capital will forever remain a theory.

BERNIMOORE:
Rubbish bill gates is a world richest man, nobody knows you, so IF YOU NO GET MONEY HIDE YOUR FACE, stop defending buharis clueless ness just because you are a blind follower

bill gate is the richest man without economy sense.
He is a computer guru, not economy guru.

And who needs a poor waif's opinion?

FarahAideed:
Is this another lame attempt to absolve Buhari of glaring incompetence ? If yes then may God forgive you

I did not write my opinion to help Buhari. I did it for the good of Nigeria. I am not a member of any political party. Buhari does not know I even exist.

Very good write up. The ops write up has nothing to do with being pro-Buhari. The Op has only presented facts limiting Nigeria's human capital development and has proposed a solution to this problem. People should learn to read before commenting (sign of low human capital development).

life2017:


I did not write my opinion to help Buhari. I did it for the good of Nigeria. I am not a member of any political party. Buhari does not know I even exist.

But instead of blaming the primary reason for Bill Gates comment which is apparently very poor governance thought process being displayed by the brain challenged Buhari you instead opted to dilute that train of opinion by jumping on suggestions of the usual careless comparison between developed nation and underdeveloped nation ..The fact that we earn less than the US is no excuse why thing are correcting on a decline

FarahAideed:


But instead of blaming the primary reason for Bill Gates comment which is apparently very poor governance thought process being displayed by the brain challenged Buhari you instead opted to dilute that train of opinion by jumping on suggestions of the usual careless comparison between developed nation and underdeveloped nation ..The fact that we earn less than the US is no excuse why thing are correcting on a decline

Can you read my write up without allowing your hatred for Buhari to becloud your judgement? I didn't even mention Buhari in my write up

I kind of support the ops submission. I believe infrastructural development will rapidly bring about economic growth in Nigeria, if the right models and policies are put in place. These policies will enhance the activities of the private sectors and SMEs, which are key contributors GDP growth.
However, I have my reservations on the human capital capacity of the Nigerian citizenry to drive thethe needed growth. This aspect has consistently failed the country either as a result of ineptitudeness or lack of patriotism.

buhariguy:
bill gate is the richest man without economy sense.
He is a computer guru, not economy guru.

You this poor thing way they claim economic guru where you they ?

The OP has no idea what it means to say a country is developed neither does he have a clear understanding of the necessary sequence to achieve economic development.

Compare the middle east countries enjoying high income today due to availability of excess natural resources relative to population to say USA. Take away suddenly the just the crude oil and gas and leave their current infrastructure intact and many of them will collapse into chaos and civil war. This is because most of the knowledge used to build up the country is imported and not yet domesticated. But take away the natural resources and infrastructure in the USA suddenly, give them 30 years and you are more likely to have a functional and progressing country once again. Try same with south Korea, Japan and you likely get similar results

The difference is the quality of available human resources.
To truly have a developed, stable and resilient economy you MUST develop your human resource to a reasonable level. Knowledge was the basis of the industrial revolution, not money or wishes.
All serious 2ND world countries like China, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia had investment in human capacity as a first priority to economic development not the other way round.
If most of your people are at mediocre or subsistence level, who will run the developed economy you yearn for? If a large section of your able bodied citizen have to beg for a living, how can they contribute to the economy meaningfully?

A well trained craftsman or skilled worker is more likely to start a micro business by commercialization of his skills than resort to begging to survive. An untrained person has far limited options than load portage or begging. The quality of training also sets workers apart, so the level of attention to training curriculum is very important. Otherwise why will artisans from Togo be preferable to local ones in Nigeria?

I hope I have successfully disabuse your mind on the feasibility of economic development without human capacity development.

watch how Buhari and co will tell Bill gates that Jonathan wrote the economic recovery plan of Nigeria that buhari is implementing...

Ovamboland:
The OP has no idea what it means to say a country is developed neither does he have a clear understanding of the necessary sequence to achieve economic development.

Compare the middle east countries enjoying high income today due to availability of excess natural resources relative to population to say USA. Take away suddenly the just the crude oil and gas and leave their current infrastructure intact and many of them will collapse into chaos and civil war. This is because most of the knowledge used to build up the country is imported and not yet domesticated. But take away the natural resources and infrastructure in the USA suddenly, give them 30 years and you are more likely to have a functional and progressing country once again. Try same with south Korea, Japan and you likely get similar results

The difference is the quality of available human resources.
To truly have a developed, stable and resilient economy you MUST develop your human resource to a reasonable level. Knowledge was the basis of the industrial revolution, not money or wishes.
All serious 2ND world countries like China, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia had investment in human capacity as a first priority to economic development not the other way round.
If most of your people are at mediocre or subsistence level, who will run the developed economy you yearn for? If a large section of your able bodied citizen have to beg for a living, how can they contribute to the economy meaningfully?

A well trained craftsman or skilled worker is more likely to start a micro business by commercialization of his skills than resort to begging to survive. An untrained person has far limited options than load portage or begging. The quality of training also sets workers apart, so the level of attention to training curriculum is very important. Otherwise why will artisans from Togo be preferable to local ones in Nigeria?

I hope I have successfully disabuse your mind on the feasibility of economic development without human capacity development.

Your argument is extreme. I didnt say human capital development is not important. I only said you need good economy to fund human capital development. Human capital development is not cheap. You are wrong on South korea. Human capital development in south korea was a product of economy development.

brodalikeme:
I kind of support the ops submission. I believe infrastructural development will rapidly bring about economic growth in Nigeria, if the right models and policies are put in place. These policies will enhance the activities of the private sectors and SMEs, which are key contributors GDP growth.
However, I have my reservations on the human capital capacity of the Nigerian citizenry to drive thethe needed growth. This aspect has consistently failed the country either as a result of ineptitudeness or lack of patriotism.

Thank you

LeOstrich:
And who needs a poor waif's opinion?

i am not poor but not as rich as bill gates

Op nice submission.. Largely spot on though we can engage the dialogue further. Thanks for educating us.

I feel strongly there is need to use layman language to explain what human capital development is to our people so they can understand better while we engage the narratives of comparison with developed nations who at no significant period in history had lingering issues around simple things as having something to put in your stomach, good water to drink.
A simple question to ask anyone in Nigeria today who has a post-secondary certificate from any institution is, How readily is a job available and/or how easy it is to set up a thriving business or venture?
We all know the answer, then It will be safe to conclude that That's is Human Capital investment Wasted and/or Unproductive.
This however does not conclude that investment on human capital is not critical or important but it should mean government doesn't need to fund it more than its currently doing given the available funds till better times.

Importantly, we must seek to find a way to incorporate and juxtapose all manner of approaches to economic growth. I feel that the ERGP is just right.

I wouldn't take a Donald Trump advice on how to run a country, talk less of Gates who has never govern a county (LG) before.
America has a lot of resources so it's can afford both human and physical capital development at the same time, Nigeria is poor and was mismanaged and therefore has to ration it's resources between human and capital development one step at a time otherwise, none will be possible to achieve.

brodalikeme:
I kind of support the ops submission. I believe infrastructural development will rapidly bring about economic growth in Nigeria, if the right models and policies are put in place. These policies will enhance the activities of the private sectors and SMEs, which are key contributors GDP growth.
However, I have my reservations on the human capital capacity of the Nigerian citizenry to drive thethe needed growth. This aspect has consistently failed the country either as a result of ineptitudeness or lack of patriotism.

I love your summation especially the closing remark