OPEN ACCESS JOURNALS Indiana Journal of Economics and Business Management Abbriviate Tittle- Ind J Econ Bus Manag ISSN (Online)- 2583-3758 Journal Homepage Link- https://indianapublications.com/journal/IJEBM DOI: *Corresponding Author: Sule Muhammed 1 INDIANA PRODUCTIVE AND QUALITY RESEARCH Research Article Volume-03|Issue-01|2023 Economic Growth Induction through Human Capital Development in Nigeria Sule Muhammed* 1 , Vicent Chuks Okafor 1 , Itodo Christian Itodo 1 , Nwokoye Mathew Okechukwu 1 1 Department of Economics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria Article History Received: 27.12.2022 Accepted: 13.01.2023 Published: 20.01.2023 Citation Muhammed, S., Okafor, V. C., Itodo, I. C., & Okechukwu, N. M. (2023). Economic Growth Induction through Human Capital Development in Nigeria. Indiana Journal of Economics and Business Management, 3(1), 1-7. Abstract: The study empirically investigated the induction of economic growth through human capital development for a period of thirty three years (1988-2020). The study employed the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression model to analyze the data and discovered the growth in GDP were accounted for by the Human Development Index (HDI), Education Expenditure of Government (EEG), Health Expenditure of Government (HEG), Life Expectancy (LEXP), and Gross Capital Formation (GCAPF). EEG and HEG had greater impact on economic growth than the other variables. The study concluded that all variables are responsible for the growth in GDP with EEG and HEG having the greatest influence. It recommended that education and health sector budget be increased significantly to ensure steady economic growth among others. Keywords: Human Capital, Economic Growth, Human Development Index, Capital Formation, Life Expectancy. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s): This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( CC BY-NC 4.0). INTRODUCTION Naturally, every country is endowed with both human and natural resources which are very critical to their growth and development. The wisdom, will and ability of any nation to make judicious use of these two resources determine the level of its growth and development. The wisdom in the human endowment lies in the proper and efficient allocation of the natural resources in production of the right goods and services for human consumption. For any country either developed or developing, must invest in human capital by providing a working and sound system of education and a functional health system. Development of education and the health sector have been the major topic of discussion among economists, researchers and policy makers as the engine of growth. Education without doubt is an instrument of change as it is responsible for the development of the research sector where ideas and knowledge of modern technology and modern productive methods of production, even with innovation are acquired. Investment in education produces efficient and productive individuals that could bring about better plans which induce growth. Investment in the health sector on the other hand is for wellness of the working population and the general public. A healthy nation is a wealthy nation. The workers are not iron, even the iron does wear out after sometimes. The individuals get sick or tired after working for sometimes and so need maintenance and proper healthcare. In 1959 seeing the importance of human capital development, the Nigerian government set up a panel to find out the manpower need of the country at the post- secondary and tertiary institutions over the next twenty years. The report of the committee known as the Ashby report (1960) made some projection of enrolment figures into Nigerian universities for a period of one decade (1960 - 1970). The committee made three recommendations as regard human resources planning. It suggested the establishment of the National University Commission (NUC) as university regulatory body to regulate the activities of universities in the country, the National Manpower Board (NMB) and its secretariat responsible for manpower training generally and the Regional Manpower Committee responsible for manpower training at the state or regional level. Nigerian government has attempted to improve its human capital at various stages of reforms in education. According to Garba (2015), the British colonial rule in 1954 changed the 8-6-2-3 system to the 6-5-2-3 as a result of agitation from notable Nigerians who were educated at the time. The British system of education was criticized and in September 1969, a conference was held with recommendation that the old system of 6-5-2-3 be replaced with the 6-3-3-4 system. All these were meant to improve the quality of human capital in the country. The trend in the expenditure of government as a percentage of GDP in health has shown a non-stable movement over time. Provision of viable healthcare stimulates productivity as healthy labour spend more time for work and earn more, spend more time in the labour force, invest in education and save for their old age. According to Adebisi et al. (2020), there has been a downward movement in government allocation as percentage of the