Abstract:

The paper examines Nigeria’s public investment in relation to human capital development outcomes between 2009 and 2012. The aim is to analyse the extent to which human capital development responds to the smart initiative by the Nigerian Government in its drive towards achieving Nigeria’s vision 20:2020. The paper adopted a comparative approach. Human capital in Nigeria was compared with those of Belgium, Poland, Saudi Arabia and Sweden that have been in contention for the 20th largest economy since 2009. The paper found out that the huge investment in education and health in 2011 and 2012 has produced mixed results in human capital development. Some of the challenges identified as hindrances to the achievement of the set targets include; inadequate funding, corruption and child labour. Therefore, the paper concluded that a new law - the Project Implementation Continuity Act which was initiated should be fully implemented. This will ensure that all projects started must be completed before new ones are initiated. This will go a long way in ensuring that the required level of human capital that will engender sustainable economic growth and development are established.