Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, CON, has called for the prioritization of Early Childhood Development (ECD) as a national development imperative.
He also stressed the need for a coordinated, long-term framework that places child development at the core of Nigeria’s growth strategy.
A statement signed by Ismaila Uba Misilli DG Press affairs Gombe State government house said the Governor made the call while speaking at the National Development Update (NDU), a bi-annual event organized by the World Bank to provide critical insights into the Nigerian economy and chart pathways for sustainable and inclusive growth.
The high-level event, held in Abuja, was attended by some of the nation’s leading economic and policy experts, including the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, as well as managing directors, chief executives of government agencies, and other senior public officials.
This edition of the update focused on the theme, “Shaping Nigeria’s Future through Early Childhood Development.”
The event also featured a panel session on the case for Early Childhood Development, with Governor Inuwa Yahaya making notable contributions to the discourse.
The Governor was represented by the Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Malam Muhammad Gambo Magaji who used the platform to advocate a more harmonised national approach that places ECD on the front burner of public policy.
He specifically called for the development of a 25-year national Early Childhood Development Plan, designed to align policies and interventions across all tiers of government into a single, coherent strategy that can be adopted by every state of the federation.
According to him, such a long-term framework is essential to achieving sustainable economic growth through a deliberate blend of infrastructure development and human capital investment, especially during the foundational years of a child’s life.
The Governor’s position is in line with the World Bank’s warning that Nigeria’s long-term prosperity depends not only on macroeconomic reforms, but also on confronting what it described as a child development crisis, with stronger coordination across health, nutrition, water, sanitation and foundational learning systems.
“Our commitment in Gombe State is to pursue forward-looking policies that nurture resilient communities, deepen human capital development and guarantee long-term prosperity for future generations. That is why we feel Early Childhood Development must remain at the heart of national planning and policy coordination,” he stated.
He used the occasion to emphasize that the state government has placed foundational learning at the forefront of its education reforms by establishing nursery and kindergarten schools across all local government areas.
According to him, the intervention is in tune with World Bank-backed programmes designed to improve early childhood education outcomes and provide a stronger learning foundation for children.
“For us in Gombe, we are making deliberate investments in early childhood development through the establishment of nursery and kindergarten schools at the grassroots level.”
” So far over 350,000 children have been taken off the streets and returned to the classroom,” he said.
The Finance Commissioner was accompanied to the event by the Director-General, AbujaLiaison, Dr. Jamilu Jafaru.
