By Ehis Agbon, Zaria, Nigeria.
The Kaduna State Government has restated its commitment to accelerating the implementation of the Kaduna State Demographic Dividend Roadmap 2024 as a two-day technical session on joint advocacy development opened on Monday in Zaria. The engagement, convened by the Youth Advocacy Coalition on Demographic Dividends Roadmap with support from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), brings together policymakers, youth leaders, CSOs, media practitioners and development experts to strengthen advocacy tools that will push the state’s demographic agenda forward.
Representing Deputy Governor Hajia Hadiza Balarabe, the Special Adviser to the Governor on NGO Matters, Hon. Mokhtar Zubairu, declared the session open and reaffirmed government’s readiness to translate population and development policies into real outcomes. He commended the steady mentoring efforts of facilitators and advocates, describing the session as a key step toward establishing a unified advocacy front capable of driving the demographic dividend roadmap to implementation.
Zubairu outlined the goals of the engagement, including deepening stakeholder understanding of the Roadmap, developing a harmonised advocacy document, creating targeted advocacy tools, and establishing a monitoring framework to track implementation. While acknowledging the role of technocrats in producing policy blueprints, he stressed that political will ultimately shapes implementation and pledged to ensure the session’s outputs reach the Governor and State Assembly for consideration. He also conveyed the Deputy Governor’s goodwill message, assuring participants that government will thoroughly review recommendations to produce a “clean and workable document.”
Experts Call for Stronger Systems, Youth Focus in Achieving Demographic Gains
Speaking, Chanan Solomon, State Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Coordinator for Lafiya–FCDO Kaduna, highlighted the centrality of demographic dividends to health system strengthening. He described the growing youth involvement in advocating for the Roadmap’s implementation as “a promising step toward improved human capital development.”
Delivering an overview of the Demographic Dividend Roadmap and the 2026 Budget Analysis, Yusuf Ishaku Goje, Executive Director of the Civic Impact for Sustainable Development Foundation, described the conversation on population and youth as “more serious than a heart attack,” warning that neglecting young people is equivalent to neglecting the heart of society. He urged participants to convert the insights from the session into concrete action that strengthens a healthy, educated and empowered population. Goje explained that demographic dividends hinge on a population’s age structure and the ability of the state to convert its numbers into economic growth, stressing that “everything—politics, our social life, and national development—is ultimately determined by the economy.”
Kaduna’s Youthful Population: Huge Potential, High Dependency Pressure
Providing a statistical breakdown, Ahmed Aminu, Senior Planning Officer at the Kaduna State Bureau of Statistics, recalled that the state’s first Demographic Dividend Roadmap was developed in 2017 and updated in 2024 alongside a dividend report produced with support from the Ministry of Planning, National Population Commission and technical experts. He said the latest report tracks progress since 2017 and evaluates how well Kaduna is utilising its youthful population across economic, social, governance and political dimensions.
Aminu disclosed that children under five now make up 16.5% of Kaduna’s estimated 11 million residents, while 83.8% of the population is below 40—figures that demand intentional planning in education, health, agriculture and infrastructure. He warned that the state’s total dependency ratio of 121, and youth dependency ratio of 114, place considerable pressure on working-age citizens, limiting investment and slowing economic growth. The elderly dependency ratio stands at 7.05, raising concerns about the capacity of the health system to support ageing citizens.
According to him, achieving demographic dividends will require transitioning Kaduna’s large youth base into a productive labour force by reducing fertility rates, strengthening healthcare services, and expanding access to quality education. While Kaduna’s demographic profile presents enormous potential, Aminu stressed that unlocking this opportunity will depend on strong political commitment and consistent implementation.
The technical session continues in Zaria, where participants are expected to develop a harmonised advocacy strategy and monitoring framework to fast-track the implementation of the Kaduna State Demographic Dividend Roadmap across the state.
