The Federal Government, in partnership with the World Bank, has launched a 500 million Dollars program aimed at improving governance, financing and human‑resource management in Nigeria’s basic education and primary healthcare sectors.
The initiative, known as the Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity–Governance (HOPE‑GOV) program, has officially begun implementation, National Coordinator Assad Hassan said Tuesday in Abuja during a briefing with Deborah Odoh, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.
A statement from the program’s communications office said the intervention is designed to address long‑standing governance gaps in the education and health sectors, particularly at the state level, where weak financial management and delayed audits have hindered progress.
Nigeria has one of the world’s highest numbers of out‑of‑school children, and many primary healthcare centers remain understaffed, underfunded and poorly equipped, challenges that have contributed to the country’s low human‑capital rankings.
Hassan said the World Bank–assisted credit is split into two components: a 480 million dollars Programme‑for‑Results window, which will reward states for meeting specific, independently verified targets, and a 20 million dollars Investment Project Financing component for coordination, monitoring and evaluation, verification of results and technical assistance.
He said implementing institutions include state governments, the Universal Basic Education Commission, the Basic Health Care Provision Fund Oversight Committee and the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.
According to Hassan, the program focuses on three priority areas: increasing financing for basic education and primary healthcare, improving transparency and accountability in budgeting and audits, and strengthening recruitment and retention of teachers and primary healthcare workers.
He said participating states will be assessed using six Disbursement‑Linked Indicators, with funds released only after independent verification of results, adding that Interim Verification Agents will soon be engaged to confirm states’ first‑year performance.
Odoh pledged the ministry’s full support for the initiative, describing the program as critical to improving service delivery outcomes in two of Nigeria’s most important social sectors.
The program comes as Nigeria continues to struggle with weak human‑capital outcomes despite statutory funding mechanisms, and it aims to link financing to verifiable results while encouraging states to reinvest incentives into further reforms.
