Former Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has renewed his call for massive investment in health and education, warning that Nigeria’s progress will remain stalled unless government confronts what he described as the “sibling alliance against development — illiteracy and ill-health.”
Delivering the Convocation Lecture at the Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, Kogi State, Mimiko said Nigeria’s human development indicators still paint “a dismal picture,” despite rising government revenues from subsidy removal, exchange rate unification and upcoming tax reforms.
He urged the Federal and State Governments to seize the fiscal space created by recent reforms and channel more resources into human capital development.
According to him, “This is a rare opportunity to ramp up spending on health and education and pursue reforms aggressively.”
Mimiko spotlighted childhood nutrition as a critical national priority, noting that 40% of Nigerian children under five suffer stunted growth due to malnutrition.
He called for a rebranded and decentralised school feeding programme, in which the Federal Government sets standards while states handle implementation.
He proposed an “irreducible minimum” feeding standard: “One egg, one child, one day.”
“This will improve accountability, boost nutrition, and stimulate growth in the livestock sector,” he said.
Addressing insecurity, Mimiko reiterated his long-standing advocacy for decentralised policing, arguing that no true federation operates a fully centralised police system like Nigeria’s.
On industrialisation, he expressed optimism that the Tinubu administration’s “Nigeria First” policy could support tariff and subsidy-driven industrial growth rather than excessive reliance on market forces.
“As revenues improve, the visible hand of the state must guarantee fair redistribution by prioritising healthcare and education,” he said, stressing that state governments must also reflect their expanded fiscal capacity in their budgets.
Mimiko concluded that Nigeria must urgently invest in its people.
“The alliance of illiteracy and ill-health must be defeated for Nigeria to achieve meaningful development,” he said.
