Govt raises council to boost national productivity

• MINILS seeks partnership with NPC to boost national efficiency
The inauguration of the National Council on Productivity by the Federal Government will galvanise all relevant bodies to contribute meaningfully to the national economic outputs, the Director-General of the National Productivity Centre (NPC), Dr Kashim Akor, has said.

This comes as the Michael Imoudu National Labour Institute Ilorin (MINILS) said it would collaborate with the NPC to deepen the promotion of productivity in the country.

Speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Council in Abuja, Akor, who expressed worries about Nigeria’s low productivity, said the council, which draws membership from the public, private sectors and the organised labour, is properly positioned to drive productivity message to all the sectors of the Nigerian economy.

He added: “If the council is given the wherewithal to function in every critical area that has been assigned to it, there will be a visible improvement in terms of programme formulation and implementation that enhances productivity of the Nigerian economy.

“I am deeply worried that the national productivity of the Nigerian economy is abysmally low. I am worried because productivity is a deciding factor as far as the enhancement of the quality of lives of the people is concerned. Enhanced productivity leads to increased wealth creation. Increased wealth creation leads to employment generation.

So, if there is low productivity, most aspects of the economy will be at the lowest ebb. However, I must add that not all sectors of the economy can record low productivity at the same time. Look at the telecommunication and agriculture sectors. Even the creative industry is booming with Nigerian films watched in almost every part of the African continent, Europe and the Americas by non-blacks. But we can do more as a country. Other critical areas are not performing to the optimum. The definition of productivity is the maximisation of input to achieve the best output. So, in everything we do as a people, we must aim to achieve the best result.”

To change the disturbing narrative, Akor said Nigeria can turn the tide by tackling factors that are impeding productivity headlong.

He explained: “Nigeria can turn the story around by tackling the factors that are impeding productivity in the country. To change this, we must work on the attitudes of Nigerians. The attitude that does not strive to improve on what they do. No matter the level of our output, there are still gaps for improvement. We must imbibe a maintenance attitude. For example, public utilities are decaying under our very eyes with most of us looking the other side. We have a poor attitude to government properties as if the government is a ghost. We do not realise that government is you and I. Those in authority come and go, but the Nigerian state remains. We must have the attitude of whatever exists, can always be improved upon. We must develop the mentality for growth. We must strive to do the right thing, at the least cost for the benefit of the larger population.”