By ABUBAKAR YUSUF

Director-General, National Productivity Centre (NPC), Dr Kashim Akor, has asked Nigerians to demonstrate productivity by developing the mindset and institutionalising the culture of Productivity Awareness Campaign (PAC) advocacy and capacity in the citizenry.

Dr Akor made the remark during a one-day 6th ‘Foundation Day Lecture’ held at Nigeria National Merit Award House, at Maitama, Abuja.

The NPC D-G stressed the need for in-depth research in strategic productive areas for enhancing further productivity, competitiveness and economic growth.

Dr Akor said there was need to promote human resources development for building a knowledge-based society through productivity training and awareness, including “promoting organisational excellence and best practices to enhance profitability and growth through the installation of productivity and quality improvement programs as well as promoting the application and adoption of cutting-edge productivity improvement techniques and tools for productivity enhancement and production of annual productivity statistics containing sectoral productivity indices to guide national planning and private sector investment decisions.”

He also noted that strengthening of MSME's through quality intervention would drive productivity, deploying “networking and partnering with other National Productivity Organisations (NPOs) institutions and bodies, locally and internationally, for a nationally focused development.”

In his key note address, Labour, productivity and Employment Minister, Senator Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige, said the history of national development geared towards enhancing productivity has being seamless from 1962 to 2021.

He maintained that productivity remained a veritable tool used to determine real economic growth and development, hence the need to utilise the available resources efficiently and effectively.

To enhance more productive environment, the Minister said the ministry was committed to job creation, social security, occupational safety and industrial peace built on collective bargaining to enhance productivity across all sectors.

He said no nation can build its economic viability without the required attitudinal changes and behavioural modifications by all in all areas.

Dr Ngige promised not to renege in building capacity at the center to enable it carry out its statutory mandates through review, funding and other needs.

He said the federal government was not unaware of the crucial roles productivity was playing in the macro-economic and structural changes, technological, research and development, invest more on infrastructure given our population, education and training.

The Minister congratulated the leadership of the NPC for sustaining the lofty ideas of the centre by carrying out all its activities.

The Minster was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour, Productivity and Employment, Dr Yerima Peter Tarfa.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Occasion and Resource Person, Dr Sylvester Momoh Onoja, had harped on quality education, saying the foundation of productivity is quality education.

“Education supposed to teach you how to earn a living, earning a living is all about productivity. Education should be legitimacy, the right people must learn and teach for effective productivity.”

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