The Federal Government on Thursday launched the National Policy on Productivity, with a call on Nigerians to imbibe the culture in all sectors of the economy.
The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, while launching the policy in Abuja, said it was critical to the economy and development of the country.
Wogu said that meaningful and sustainable development would be achieved without a concerted effort to institutionalise productivity.
He urged Nigerians to advance the structure at all levels of governance and sectors of the society.
“Against this premise, the place of productivity as a veritable tool in the achievement of government Transformation Agenda and Indeed the actualisation of vision 20:2020 cannot be over emphasised.
“The National Policy on Productivity is, therefore, our concerted response to the challenges of our under-development due to the nation’s low level of productivity.
“The low level productivity observed in our services and social sectors has highlighted the need to develop the policy on productivity.’’
The minister said that the his ministry, state governments and the National Productivity Centre had the responsibility to ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of the policy.
He enjoined all stakeholders to be committed to the partnership aimed at ensuring the successful implementation of the provisions of the document.
The minister also requested the state and local governments to quickly inaugurate their productivity councils and committees as enunciated in the policy.
He said the ministry would offer relevant technical assistance, where necessary, to ensure the immediate take-off of the implementing organs at other levels of governance.
Wogu said Nigeria was not bereft of good ideas, socio-economic programmes and well-articulated policies capable of transforming the country into a developed economy.
He said the lack of explicit policy had been identified as the missing link that deprived policies, plans and programme as well as synergy for effective and efficient implementation.
He said the policy was a strategic document that established the vision, mission, goals, objectives, guidelines and the modus operandi for the mobilisations, participation and promotion of productivity culture among the citizenry.
In his remarks, Alhaji Bukar Aji, the Head of Federal Civil Service, said his office would make adequate copies of the document available to Nigerians.
He advised that the document should not be seen as a material for drawers, but must be studied thoroughly to boost the economy and enhance productivity.
“ You must be productive. The document should be studied very well in order to boost your productivity and that of the economy.
“It doesn’t matter the level you are, whichever sector you find yourself, you must contribute to the development of the nation.
“People should be conscious of that fact.’’
Earlier, Mr Paul Bdliya, the Director-General of the National Productivity Centre, said the importance of productivity in any economy could not be overstressed.
According to him, it is the level of productivity that makes the difference between the relative poverty of the developing countries and the national affluence of the developed and industrialised nations.
He said to survive economically, a nation needed to evolve a culture of productivity in all its undertakings.
