1.1 Introduction
Human capital refers to the abilities and skills of human resources while human capital development refers to the process of acquiring and increasing the number of persons who have the skills, education and experience which are crucial for economic growth of a country. Nigeria as a country is immensely endowed both in natural and human resources. Nigeria used to depend on physical capital for her growth and development without putting in to consideration the role played by human capital in the development process. In recent years, human capital has been recognized as an agent of national development in all countries of the world (Isola & Alani, 2012).
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitation of the study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
This study of human capital development is very important issue in every organization which focuses on growth, viability and survival of any organization. Whether private or public, manufacturing or non-manufacturing is effective acquisition, utilization and maintenance of the organization’s human resources.
The human resource is so critical to organization survival such that it has judging by today’s complex business environment, been acclaimed as the most vital resource available to any organization. It is a study that concern with an inquiry into human capital training and development with special reference to department of national civil registration (DNCR).
The rapid economic growth and development of sectors of the economy since the attainment of political independence enhance the need for human capital development strategies in the (DNCR). No matter how efficient and sophisticated your machines, tools and equipment are and no matter how vast your human element will have to put those material resources to use.
At this junction, training can be looked into just as a new born baby needs guidance to acquire the skills common to all human beings in the society so also does a new employee (and old employees for changes in method of world need to acquire new skills where possible especially when he/she lacks such skill. The international labour organization (ILO) defined training for commerce and industry as concerned with the acquisition or development of these skills knowledge techniques, attitudes and experience which enables an individual to make his most effective contribution to the combined effort of term of which he is a member.
Therefore, in Asaba, Delta State where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Impact of Human Capital Development on Economic Growth in Nigeria.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Nigeria as one of Africa’s biggest economies has been faced with the problem of human capital development over the years. In spite of all the abundant resources the Nation has been endowed with, Nigeria has failed to realize her full development potential in terms of sustainable human capital development or people oriented development like many other prosperous economies of the world that have adopted a similar strategy to boost their economic growth. A large percentage of Nigeria’s population estimated to be 182.2 Million according to World Bank, (2016) remain at rather low levels of literacy and often with insufficient access to education and health care. The government should be able to put more funds into education, healthcare, training, skills and other related factors in order to curb the persistent challenge of high unemployment rate, inadequate education, poor health and so on which will in turn feed back into the economy and thus promote economic growth.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to examine the Impact of Human Capital Development on Economic Growth in Nigeria. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To find out the impact of human capital development in National civil registration, Asaba.
- To explore all areas of human capital development with reference to national civil registration, Asaba.
- To demonstrates that human capital development can bring about an increase in productivity, improve and modify employee’s skill and educate them on proper procedures for carrying out tasks in accordance with organizational established standards.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Does human capital impact the development of National civil registration, Asaba?
- What are the areas of human capital development with reference to national civil registration, Asaba?
- Does human capital development bring about an increase in productivity?
- Does human capital development improve and modify employee’s skill?
- Does human capital study educate individuals on proper procedures for carrying out tasks in accordance with organizational established standards?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
- H0: Human capital development has no significant impact on economic growth in Nigeria.
- H1: Human capital development has a significant impact on economic growth in Nigeria.
1.7 Significance of Study
Human capital development and economic growth in Nigeria have often resulted in various findings with no consensus. This may be attributed to various measures used to measure human capital development as Education, Health, Productivity, youth empowerment with no universal agreement on the measures. However life expectancy as an important health indicator whose importance as a component of human capital development continues to rise has seldom been used even though it remains at extremely low levels in a number of sub sahara Africa countries of which Nigeria is one.
The study will be relevance to primary school education on economic growth which should be a basic benefit of each and every Nigerian citizen in ensuring that secondary school enrollment and tertiary school enrollment continue to make valued contributions to Human capital development in Nigeria. And also, it will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.8 Scope of Study
The study focuses on the Impact of Human Capital Development on Economic Growth in Nigeria using Asaba, Delta State as a case study.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research Material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent Power Failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
Human Capital:
Human capital refers to the stock of skills, knowledge, and experience possessed by an individual or population, viewed in terms of their value or cost to an organization or country (Becker, 1994). It includes education, training, health, and other human capacities that can be used to generate economic value.
Economic Growth:
Economic growth is the increase in the amount of goods and services produced per head of the population over a period of time (Barro, 1991). It is typically measured as the rate of change in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Human Capital Development:
Human capital development is the process of improving the knowledge, skills, competencies, and other attributes embodied in individuals or groups of individuals that facilitate the creation of personal, social, and economic well-being (Schultz, 1961). It encompasses education, training, health care, and other forms of investment in human resources.
…
