Delivering the Convocation Lecture of the Confluence Uni­versity of Science and Technol­ogy, Osara, Kogi State, titled, “Ill-health and Illiteracy: Siblings Alliance Against Development,” Mimiko said Nigeria’s human development indicators paint “a dismal picture,” despite recent fiscal reforms that have boosted government revenues.

He acknowledged some ongo­ing policy efforts in the education and health sectors but insisted they need to be ramped up and aggressively pursued. According to him, “improved accruals from subsidy removal, exchange rate unification and the expected com­mencement of tax reforms in 2026 present a rare opportunity for gov­ernments at all levels to redirect more funds to human capital de­velopment.

Mimiko placed special empha­sis on childhood nutrition, which he said lies at the intersection of health, education and agricul­ture, and should be treated as a national priority. To him, the free school meal programme has to be rebranded and decentralised so that the federal government could set general guidelines, standard and limits while the actual proj­ect implementation should be devolved to sub-national govern­ments.

The programme could be reworked to incorporate “the ir­reducible minimum of one egg, one child, one day. This will make compliance and accountability easy to track. It will also have a catalytic effect on our livestock industry,” Mimiko said.

Speaking briefly on the ques­tion of insecurity, Mimiko said: “to address the challenge of in­security in Nigeria, we must de­centralise the police service. No federation like Nigeria anywhere has the type of centralised police structure we have in Nigeria.”

On needed industrialisation, he expressed optimism that the “Nigeria First” policy of the Tinu­bu administration could help shift attention away from over reliance on market forces and toward de­liberate public investment needed to drive industrialisation.