Centre seeks productivity improvement to exit recession

The placement of high premium on productivity by employers of labour is one of the fastest ways of getting Nigeria out of the present economic recession, the Director General of the National Productivity Centre (NPC), Kashim Akor has said.

Speaking while declaring open a productivity awareness lecture for staff of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in Abuja recently, the NPC boss explained that attaining maximum level of productivity has been identified as a shortcut to exiting economic recession by countries that experienced economic difficulty.

The Director General noted that all Nigerians, now more than ever before, have to develop the right attitude to work, sound productivity mindset and culture in all endeavours of national lives if the nation is to be competitive globally.

He said the productivity sensitization lecture for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) was packaged by the Centre to sharpen the skills and competences of workers as well as stimulate their consciousness towards enhanced productivity.

Speaking while receiving the Director-General of NPC, Acting Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Anthony Akah lauded the Centre for the initiative.

He said the commission being a regulatory body needs to be on top of its activities if it is to effectively supervise the whole electricity value chain of generation, transmission and distribution in Nigeria.

He added: “This training by National Productivity Centre is quite useful and would help in repositioning the Commission to meet the expectations of Nigerians.”

The National Productivity Sensitization lecture, which is deigned mainly for senior staff and management of organizations, has so been organized for 24 MDAs this year.

Akor hinted that the objectives of the lecture is to enable participants understand the concept and importance of productivity; discuss the impact of productivity improvement in the work place; introduce participants to the basic productivity improvement tools and techniques and propagate productivity consciousness in the public sector.

In a related development, Akor has called for increased funding of agricultural extension services by the three tiers of government and other relevant stakeholders in order to improve the productivity of the Nigerian farmers.

He made the call while declaring open a three-day national workshop on improving agricultural and rural productivity through extension services delivery held at National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

He disclosed that the workshop was primarily designed to brainstorm on how to transform and strengthen agricultural extension and institutional system for effective and efficient service delivery to all the stakeholders in order to achieve Government policy objectives.