Business
Nigeria’s Human Capital Development Among World’s Worst -W’Bank
Published
3 years agoon
By
Editor
The World Bank Group has said that Nigeria’s human capital development ranks among the worst globally.
The Washington-based bank stated this in a new report titled, “COVID-19 and Nigeria’s human capital crisis,” where it noted that Nigeria’s ambitious poverty-reduction targets hinge on developing human capital.
According to the report, learning poverty, which captures 10-year-olds’ ability to understand simple sentences or perform basic numeracy tasks, likely proliferated in Nigeria during the pandemic.
While learning poverty cannot be estimated directly for Nigeria due to lack of data, it now affects up to 70 per cent of children in low- and middle-income countries, the World Bank notes.
The report read in part, “Even prior to COVID-19, Nigeria had some of the worst human capital outcomes in the world. According to the 2020 Human Capital Index (HCI)—based on a range of markers of health and education including infant mortality, expected years of schooling, sand stunting—a child born in Nigeria that year will grow up to achieve just 36 percent of the productivity he or she could have attained with full health and education. This was below the average for sub-Saharan Africa of around 40 percent. Just six countries had lower HCI scores globally.”
The report further noted that the direct health effects of COVID-19 itself threatened Nigeria’s human capital.
The country recorded its first case of COVID-19 on February 27, 2020 and has subsequently already suffered at least four distinct waves of infection, peaking around June 2020, January 2021, August 2021, and January 2022.
However, recorded case numbers in Nigeria generally remained lower than in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
It said the COVID-19 crisis threatens future generations further through its impact on education. School closures during 2020 reduced children’s attendance rates even after reopening, especially among older children.
According to the bank, as the COVID-19 pandemic abates, rebuilding human capital represents a key immediate policy priority for Nigeria.
It further said recouping the learning losses experienced during the pandemic was also a crucial element of rebuilding human capital. Nigerians themselves favour expanding in-person learning—especially by adding more hours to the school day—to help children catch up.
READ ALSO: Why Commodity Prices’ll Remain High In Nigeria, Others – World Bank
According to a child education expert, Emmanuella Chinelo, the assertion of the World Bank on Nigeria’s learning poverty rate is not unconnected to why most Nigerian adults are unable to reach their full learning potential, which ultimately translates to the poor human capital development statistics.
She, however, noted that in very rare cases, a child’s inability to reach full learning potential before the age of 10 might not produce the conventional effects seen in most people who fall into that bracket
She said, “Actually. It is not always the case, even though the right thing for parents to do is to have learning support systems for their kids, because if they don’t do that, most of them struggle. There’s a 10-year old boy I’m teaching now, during the lockdown they discovered that he couldn’t read well, and he was already in year 4. It’s a struggle, even till now, because he already missed out on the foundation. His learning is actually impaired. It’s not always the case, but most kids I’ve seen usually have that impaired learning.”
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Business
NNPCL Reduces Fuel Price After Dangote Refinery’s Adjustment
Published
2 weeks agoon
August 14, 2025By
Editor
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has reduced its premium motor spirit pump price on Thursday, according to DAILY POST.
It was confirmed that NNPCL retail outlets in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, have reduced their pump price to N890 per litre from N945.
This new fuel price has been reflected in NNPCL retail outlets such as mega station Danziyal Plaza, Central Area, Wuse Zone 4, Wuse Zone 6, and other of its filling stations in the nation’s capital.
READ ALSO:N5bn Damage: NNPCL Secures Appeal Court Victory Against Ararume
The latest downward review of fuel price in NNPCL outlets represents an N55 reduction in fuel pump price.
“It was reduced to N890 per litre this afternoon, down from N945,” an NNPCL fuel attendant told DAILY POST anonymously on Thursday.
This comes a Nigerian filling station, MRS Empire Energy, on Thursday adjusted their fuel pump price to N885 and N946 per litre, down from N910 and N955 per litre.
The latest fuel price reduction trend is unconnected to Dangote Refinery’s ex-depot petrol price adjustment by N30 to N820 per litre from N850 and the price of crude oil in the international market.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced a reduction in the ex-depot (gantry) price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, commonly known as petrol, by N30, from N850 to N820 per litre, effective from August 12, 2025.
This was disclosed in a statement by the company’s spokesman, Anthony Chijiena, on Tuesday.
The 650,000-barrel-per-day plant said the move is part of its unwavering commitment to national development, assuring the public of a consistent and uninterrupted supply of petroleum products.
READ ALSO:Dangote Refinery Gets New CEO
“In line with our dedication to operational excellence and sustainable energy solutions, Dangote Petroleum Refinery will commence the phased deployment of 4,000 CNG-powered trucks for fuel distribution across Nigeria, effective August 15, 2025,” said Chijiena.
The announcement comes as the refinery prepares to commence direct fuel distribution nationwide. The development is expected to lead petroleum product marketers to reduce their pump prices in the coming days.
In Abuja, the retail fuel price stood between N885 and N970 per litre as of Tuesday evening.
Business
Indian Refiners Abandon Russia For Nigerian Crude, As Dangote Refinery Relies On US
Published
2 weeks agoon
August 11, 2025By
Editor
India Refineries have abandoned Russian crude for Nigerian crude, while domestic refiner Dangote Refinery relies heavily on West Texas Intermediate crude from the United States of America.
This followed a recent sanction threat by US president Donald Trump on India over continued patronage of Russian crude.
According to Reuters, industry sources said that Indian Oil Corporation recently bought one million barrels of Nigeria’s Agbami crude for September 2025 delivery in a tender awarded to global trader Trafigura.
Also included are one million barrels of Angola Girassol, one million barrels of US Mars, three million barrels of Abu Dhabi Murban, and two million barrels of Nigerian oil, according to Reuters.
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The report noted that the purchase is part of a broader sourcing spree that has seen Indian refiners secure millions of barrels from non-Russian sources post July 2025.
Meanwhile, Indian refiners secured purchases of Nigerian crude grades; the $20bn Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, is relying on around 60 percent on US and other imoorts to feed its processing units.
Data showed that the refinery imported an average of 10 million barrels in July 2025, saying it was increasingly relying on the US for its feedstock despite the naira-for-crude deal with the Federal Government, which kicked off in October last year.
According to Reuters, the Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum have bought a million barrels of non-Russian crude billed for delivery in September and October after the US pressured India to halt purchases from Russia.
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Indian state refiners had been largely absent from the Nigerian crude market spotlight since 2022; they have in the past concentrated on Russian crude amid the Russian-Ukrainian war. However, the Indian refiners paused Russian purchases in late July 2025 after pressure from US President Donald Trump.
On the part of Dangote Refinery, data from commodities analytics firm Kpler showed that in July, US barrels accounted for about 60 percent of Dangote’s 590,000 barrels per day of crude intake, with Nigerian grades making up the remaining 40 percent.
In July, the Dangote refinery’s crude imports surged to a record 590 kbd—driven largely by US barrels overtaking Nigerian supply for the first time—amid ongoing domestic sourcing challenges, Kpler reports.
“While WTI has held a significant share in Dangote’s import slate since March, this is the first time US crude has overtaken Nigerian supply—a shift driven by several factors,” Kpler stated.
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