ECD: Nigeria Must Treat Early Childhood Investment as Economic Policy – Consultant
Princess-Ekwi Ajide
Nigeria’s early childhood policies could have a direct bearing on the quality of its future workforce, with evidence showing that one additional year of schooling could raise long-term earnings by about 5.9 per cent.
Management and Technical Consultant to Nigeria’s Early Childhood Development (ECD) Programme, Dr Giwa Zikrullah, disclosed this in Abuja at a workshop on ECD organised for Civil Society Organisations and the media.
Zikrullah said the evidence should push early childhood development higher on Nigeria’s policy agenda, arguing that investment in the first years of life is not simply a social intervention but a long-term investment in human capital, productivity and household incomes.
“For one year of schooling, you are able to improve the long-term earning by about 5.9 percent.”
He said an 18-percentage-point reduction in schooling deficits is associated with about a 1.4 per cent increase in expected income, while reducing childhood stunting could contribute to a 2.2 per cent improvement in educational attainment.
The figures raise a wider policy question for Nigeria: whether spending on children’s early years is being treated as a core component of economic planning rather than as a peripheral social-sector intervention.
Zikrullah said children who receive adequate support early in life are more likely to remain in school, acquire essential skills and participate productively in the economy.
He stressed that childhood stunting should also be viewed beyond physical growth, as poor development can affect learning, school retention and educational attainment, potentially limiting economic opportunities in adulthood.
The consultant further clarified that the World Bank’s support to Nigeria’s ECD Programme is not intended to finance the core national programme, but to incentivise resources towards agreed programme results.
According to him, participating authorities are subjected to independent verification to determine whether agreed targets have been achieved.
He urged government, CSOs and the media to focus more closely on results, accountability and equity in ECD spending, particularly whether policies and resources are reaching children who need them most.
For Nigeria, the implication is significant: failure to address learning, nutrition, health and developmental gaps early may eventually become a workforce and productivity problem.
Zikrullah therefore called for stronger monitoring of ECD policies and investments, with government and development partners expected to demonstrate measurable improvements in children’s development rather than relying solely on programmes, policies and budgetary allocations.
According to the evidence, Nigeria’s investment in the child today is also an investment in the worker, taxpayer and citizen of tomorrow.
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