The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah, is calling for partnership with the private sector towards the full development of skills and talents of Nigerians.

At the annual conference of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management in Abuja, Mr Enelamah says Nigeria is at a challenging time which offers the best opportunity to develop the country’s foremost asset; the Nigerian people, their talents, passion and energy.

He says there has been too much focus on the wrong things and no country can progress by valuing what lies within its soil above what lies in its people.

The event was used to brainstorm on how to unlock the potentials and value of the Nigerian people.

The minister told the gathering that Nigeria was facing dire challenges arising from mistaking its most important asset to be its natural resources resulting to gross neglect of its human resources, a trend he said ought to change now.

To tackle the human potential and leadership challenges Nigeria currently faces, the minister suggested a strong collaboration between the private sector and government is inevitable.

As Nigeria intensifies efforts to diversify its economy, reforms and growth of the economy must also go hand in hand with human capital development.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel Management therefore has a challenge to deploy its wealth of knowledge and experience now more than ever before.