Abdullahi M. Gulloma
7 August 2008
interview
Dr Paul Bdliya is the Director-General of the National Productivity Centre (NPC) charged with the responsibility of enhancing productivity in all the sectors of the country's economy. In this interview with our reporter, Abdullahi M. Gulloma, he spoke on issues that hinder productivity in the natural resource-rich Nigeria and how to stimulate productivity according to the country's yearnings and aspirations, among others.
Considering Nigeria's economic status and development since independence, what is the country's productivity rate and capacity now?
It is difficult to give you an exact figure as to Nigeria's productivity rate and capacity, but we can say that the country's productivity is extremely low. This is evident in the abundant symptoms of low productivity in virtually all the sectors of the nation's economy occasioned by low capacity utilization of our manufacturing industries, decaying infrastructure, epileptic power supply, general poor work ethics and attitudes, poor service delivery, especially by government agencies, high level of corruption, non-implementation of projects and weak or even non-functional institutions as well as operational problems in all the three tiers of government - federal, state and local government.
Nigeria is a blessed country. We have almost everything on the shores of this country. Honestly, given the nature of our resources-both human and capital, the expectation is that Nigeria's productivity rate should be very high or, at least, average. Unfortunately, as things are now, our productivity rate falls under the low category. And I think that is a very big problem for the country that needs to be urgently addressed by all and sundry if we actually want to achieve sustainable growth and development.
How much contribution has the term 'productivity' made to the socio-economic growth of the country?
This is also difficult to measure. Productivity as a word and, perhaps, as a concept to some people is used every now and then when we speak of socio-economic development of a country. For many people, the word productivity and its concept simply mean a veritable tool for economic development and sustainable growth.
Bearing that in mind, the challenge now is to make more Nigerians aware of the meaning and concept of productivity as a tool for economic development and growth so that they can work assiduously to improve their productivity level as a panacea to attain better living standards. So, coming back to the question, I would say the word productivity has contributed to some appreciable degree, especially among the elites, for socio-economic growth.
You said a while ago that the country's productivity rate and capacity are low. Various and numerous indices determine the rate and capacity of a country's productivity. How would you assess the productivity indices in the Nigeria's socio-economic sector over the last five decades?
Yes, there is no gainsaying the fact that as a nation, Nigeria has made progress from independence to date in some sectors of the nation's economy, especially transport, commerce, energy, petroleum and gas, education, health and manufacturing. However, the progress in these sectors is negligible and to some people very, very unnoticeable.
The sector-by-sector annual productivity indices for the past 20 years show some ups and downs in almost all the sectors measured. This means that even when and where the country had recorded productivity increases, they have not been consistent and sustainable. This tells you that a lot needs to be done to improve productivity on a sustainable basis for the overall development of the country and its peoples.
Nigerians and, indeed, a larger section of the global public maintain that Nigeria's economy has been stagnant for several years now, if not for a larger part of its independence history. Considering the essence of productivity in economic growth and your centre as the main tool for stimulating it, would you say it has done much to move the economy to its present stage?
The Centre has done fairly well over the years since its establishment in stimulating the citizenry towards productivity improvement for economic growth within our very limited financial resources. I must say that the concept of productivity alone cannot make the nation grow economically. Productivity improvement works best when all other socio-economic variables such as education, health, fiscal, political, trade and so on are in place and performing efficiently according to the country's needs and aspirations at any particular point in its development history.
However, through our various programmes, we are trying as much as possible, within the resources available to the centre to reach out to Nigerians on the need to ensure that they improve their productivity level so that the nation and its peoples can compete effectively with others. In effect, improved productivity in all sectors of the nation's economy is the panacea for sustainable socio-economic development of the country. Nigerians need to work assiduously, at the individual or consort level, towards securing this panacea.
As an institution concerned with the growth of productivity, the NPC has institutionalized mechanisms that will make it possible for us to achieve optimum productivity and that, we feel, is one of our contributions to ensure that Nigerians imbibe the culture of productivity.
In a depressed economy like Nigeria where inflation rate has assumed double digits, what are the prospects for higher productivity?
Actually, a depressed state of economy such as ours calls for urgent productivity improvement. I mean the present situation we are in Nigeria productivity-wise requires high sense of urgency, especially in view of the fact that the prospects for higher productivity in the Nigerian economy are quite a daunting task but by no means insurmountable. The major challenges confronting us, as far as productivity improvement is concerned in Nigeria, includes urgent need to develop the productivity mindset and the institutionalization of the productivity culture in the citizenry. The mindset should be one geared towards being progressive and acquiring the mentality for progress.
Again, areas such as the will to improve on what exists, no matter how good it appears, the will to do better today than yesterday and better still tomorrow than today, the belief in human abilities and capabilities, promotion of creativity and innovation in the society, the effective and efficient utilization of our human and material resources etc, need to be properly looked into for the overall benefit of the country. By the time these challenges are addressed, the Nigerian economy would record a lot of improvement arising from productivity improvement leading to improved standard of living and quality of life of the citizenry.
How enormous would you say are the challenges facing the NPC with regards to its statutory roles and duties amidst the multiplying constraints and emerging complexities for the country's socio-economic growth according to the emerging world order?
I think the major challenges facing the centre are, of course, in the area of funding. Productivity awareness requires that we reach the grassroots and sustain our presence with the productivity message always. This could be through physical presence or placement of advertorials and jingles in the electronic and print media. These are too expensive.
Also, considering our multi-lingual nature, this becomes more complex and challenging. And to be fully effective, NPC has to be able to assist as many individuals, companies and organizations to improve their productivity and competitiveness. And the resources at our disposal will not be adequate for us to carry out these functions. So, you can see that we need adequate budgetary allocations to enable us discharge our duties effectively.
How much effort has the centre made at the creation and establishment of productivity enhancement instruments across the country's economic terrain?
The centre has inaugurated over twenty State Productivity Committees (SPCs) across the country in our attempt to reach out to the people at the grassroots. Also, Productivity and Quality Improvement Scheme (PIS) has been installed in over fifteen small and medium enterprises in the country. This has assisted businesses to improve their productivity.
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