INVESTIGATION INTO THE IMPACT OF HUMAN CAPITAL TO THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

jane doe

7 months ago

INVESTIGATION INTO THE IMPACT OF HUMAN CAPITAL TO THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

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INVESTIGATION INTO THE IMPACT OF HUMAN CAPITAL TO THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Chapter one

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Various researchers have repeatedly confirmed the importance of human capital investment in economic success. Human capital is seen as the most precious asset and must be mobilised (Awopegba, 2003).

Human capital as an economic concept refers to health, education, and other human abilities that might increase productivity (Todaro and Smith, 2003). Capital and natural resources are passive factors of production, whereas human resources are active factors.

Human capital is a country’s most precious resource; without it, physical capital (tools, machinery, and equipment) will not work well, impeding economic growth.

In political terms, investing in human capital prepares people to participate in political processes, particularly as citizens of a democratic society. Human capital investment promotes broader and richer lives that are less constrained by convention.

It is a method of empowering individuals, which will allow them to make significant contributions to the economy’s growth. Human capital investment is critical to the success of the Nigerian economy. Vision 20:2020 aims to strengthen the educational system in areas such as access, equity, infrastructure, teacher quality, cumulative relevance, funding, and planning.

Human capital is also emphasised in the millennium development goals (MDGs), which are expected to be fully fulfilled by 2015. As a result, this research will delve deeply into the role of health and education in Nigeria’s development. The most serious issue facing human capital is a lack of finance.

This has resulted in a skilled labour shortage, unemployment, and, most importantly, poverty. No country can achieve considerable growth unless it invests enough in human capital.

A good example is the Asian tigers, Taiwan and Singapore, whose economies have improved dramatically as a result of significant human capital investments.

Education not only contributes to national economic growth, but it also plays an important role in reducing income inequality. Research conducted by Phillipe, Peter, and Fabrice (2011) and Kakar, Khilji, and Khan (2011) concluded that educational achievement and human capital development would positively reduce income inequality.

Overall, experts agree that education improved economic growth by reducing poverty incidence, social inequalities, and income equality. Furthermore, it has a favourable impact on the impoverished and needy, helping them improve their lives.

As information develops rapidly and its assimilation into production processes becomes more complex, the ability to acquire, assimilate, and adapt new knowledge will be a key factor of economic progress. This may have heightened the need to explore the relationship between education and economic growth (Isola 2012).

Human capital is defined as the stock of competencies, skills, knowledge, and personality traits embodied in individuals that facilitate their ability to perform labour for the creation of personal, economic, and social value (OECD, 2001). Labour is one of the factors of production and is also known as the workforce.

One of the major investments in human capital is education, which is why Schultz (2005) and many other American economists in the early 1960s discovered that investment in education is one of the significant factors responsible for the rapid growth of the American economy;

they pointed out that a dollar invested in education results in a higher increase in their country’s GDP than a dollar spent on physical capital such as dams, roads, street lights, and so on.

Thus, human capital is a mode of production in which greater investment results in increased output. Human capital is sustainable, but unlike land and other permanent capital, it cannot be transferred. An endeavour to boost human capital investment is expected to result in rapid economic growth for society (Olaniyan and Okemakinde, 2008).

According to Adebayo (2009), the character and rate of a nation’s economic and social growth are ultimately determined by its people resources, not its physical, capital, or material resources. Human capital is analogous to “physical means of production” such as factories and machinery.

According to (Babalola, 2003), the rationale behind investment in human capital is based on the following arguments: that the new generation must be given an appropriate part of knowledge that has already been accumulated by the previous generation, that the new generation should be taught how existing knowledge should be used to develop new products to intr

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest economies, has long struggled with human capital development. Despite the abundance of resources available to the nation, Nigeria has failed to realise its full development potential in terms of sustainable human capital development or people-oriented development, as have many other prosperous economies around the world that have adopted a similar strategy to boost economic growth.

According to the World Bank (2016), a considerable proportion of Nigeria’s population, estimated at 182.2 million, continues to have low literacy levels and limited access to education and health services.

This could be related to the different measurements used to measure human capital development, such as education, health, productivity, and youth empowerment, with no general agreement on the measures.

However, life expectancy as an important health measure, which is becoming increasingly significant as a component of human capital development, has rarely been employed, despite the fact that it remains severely low in a number of Sub-Saharan African nations, including Nigeria.

Further enrollment rates at both elementary, secondary, and tertiary levels in a substantial number of current studies have not all been employed together in a single model analysing human capital development and economic growth (for example, see Adeyemi and Ogunsola 2016; and Jaiyeoba, 2015).

whereas, primary school enrollment feeds into secondary school enrollment, and secondary school enrollment feeds into tertiary school enrollment over time, and thus all three school enrollment rates are important as human capital development measures, which must be used together in a single model.

Furthermore, to the best of the researchers’ knowledge, no previous study has investigated the role of human capital development in Nigeria’s progress.

1.3 Object of the Study

The primary goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of proper and effective class management on the teaching and learning process. Specifically, the study wants to:

1. Determine the reasons hindering growth and development in Nigeria.

2. Determine what percentage of human capital exists in Nigeria.

3. Examine the impact of human capital on economic growth and development in Nigeria.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS.

The following research questions were developed to lead this investigation and get a meaningful conclusion:

1. What factors are hindering growth and development in Nigeria?

2. What percentage of human capital exists in Nigeria?

3. Does human capital have a substantial impact on economic growth and development in Nigeria?

1.5 Research Hypothesis

Ho: Human capital has no substantial impact on Nigeria’s economic growth and development.

Ho: Human capital has a tremendous impact on economic growth and development in Nigeria.

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