The Nigeria Governors’ Forum has rallied North-West states to prioritise early childhood development as a foundation for human capital development.

This was disclosed at a three-day ECD Zonal Technical Consultation and Prioritisation Workshop for the North-West zone in Kaduna. The workshop was convened by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, the World Bank, NGF, and the Human Capital Development Programme.

Mukhtar-Monrovia, the commissioner for budget and planning, said the state viewed ECD as an economic decision rather than merely a social intervention.

He said outcomes from the workshop would directly influence Kaduna’s 2027 budget process and guide funding for agreed ECD interventions.

“If we get this right in the first 2,000 days, we will not be budgeting for a crisis later,” he said.

The commissioner stated that the state would map agreed interventions to existing budget lines and Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) entry points.

According to him, investing in antenatal care, nutrition, responsive caregiving, and early learning would reduce future spending on remedial education and health interventions.

He said ECD should be treated as infrastructure because healthier and better-nourished children would become productive adults and contribute to economic development.

Mr Mukhtar-Monrovia noted that the state would ensure that agreed ECD interventions were properly captured in its budgeting process.

Yunus Tanko-Abdullahi, spokesman for the NGF, described ECD as the foundation of Nigeria’s human capital development.

Mr Tanko-Abdullahi said the meeting would enable Northwest states to develop practical, state-specific strategies for improving child development from pregnancy to five years.

He said strong participation by commissioners, permanent secretaries, the World Bank, and other stakeholders demonstrated commitment to strengthening ECD across the region.

Mr Tanko-Abdullahi said states differed in their needs, making it necessary to develop plans that reflected their individual circumstances and priorities.

He said the workshop would harmonise the states’ recommendations into a framework capable of guiding ECD implementation across the Northwest.

(NAN)