IMPACT OF HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Nigeria is one of the most populous countries in Africa and possesses vast natural resources, including oil and gas. However, the country has faced challenges in converting these resources into sustained economic growth and improved living standards for its citizens. Despite its potential, Nigeria faces significant human capital deficits. These deficits include issues such as low literacy rates, inadequate healthcare access, skills gaps, and high levels of unemployment and underemployment. Nigeria's performance in terms of human capital development indicators, such as education and  ealthcare, often lags many other countries with similar or even lower levels of  economic development. This study therefore sought to examine the impact of human capital development on the performance of the Nigerian economy Nigeria over the period 1990-2022. The study adopted the ex-post facto research design based on data from the Central Bank of Nigeria's economic and financial review, CBN financial statistics report and data from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS).Time series data was generated from CBN bulletin from 1990 to 2022. The study made use of the Ordinary Least square method of estimation. The study discovered that government expenditure on health (GEXH) has a positive (co-efficient of 143.0199) and a statistically significant relationship (P-value 0.0036) with real gross domestic product in the long run. This means that a one percent increase in GEXH, will lead to about 143.0199 increases in RGDP, this result conforms to our earlier anticipated A priori theoretical expectation. Based on the findings, the study recommended that the federal, state, and local government in Nigeria should increase their budgetary allocations to education and health sectors and ensure that proper implementation in other to enhance human capital development in the Nigerian economy.