Fifth National Productivity Summit ends in Abuja

The fifth National Productivity Summit 2024, which aims to highlight the role of productivity in the national and economic growth of any country, including Nigeria, has ended in Abuja.

The National Productivity Centre, NPC, organised the two-day event which began on Tuesday.

The National Productivity Summit is regarded as a one-of-a-kind policy conversation organised by the National Productivity Centre to bring together stakeholders, experts, and policymakers to develop productivity-enhancing solutions.

Chairperson of the fifth edition of the Summit, Dr Titilola Oshati, said that “the Summit is a also a platform for the public and private sectors to collaborate, exchange ideas and discuss solution driven productivity with the main objective of creating a virile discourse on how to increase productivity and competitiveness in all sectors of the Nigerian economy.”

Addressing participants, Minister of State Labour and Employment, Dr Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, said that successful administrations in Nigeria over the years, have developed economic plans with the overall aim of positioning Nigeria’s economy among the top 10 competitive economies.

Despite the various economic plans and efforts, she said; “economic growth and development appear to be moving at snail speed and blamed it on the nation’s low productivity index in all the sectors of the economy.”

Studies conducted by the National Productivity Centre showed that Nigeria’s commitment to productivity improvement over the years has been on the low side, and as such, developmental goals were hardly achieved, while poverty remained high even in the face of potential for rapid and sustained economic growth (NPC, 2019).

According to the report, “the country has performed poorly in terms of productivity, as, at best, it has recorded occasional marginal improvements in its productivity profile, resulting in high incidence of poverty – about 35% of the population lives in extreme poverty.

According to the Minister, higher productivity, essentially, is the efficiency with which an economy can transform resources into quality goods and services and potentially create more with less, thereby, contributing significantly to a nation’s prosperity.

Dr Onyejeocha believed that by leveraging science, technology and innovation, the country stands to gain higher productivity and national development.

Speaking on the theme of this year’s Summit, “Achieving Higher Productivity National Development by Leveraging on Science, Technology and Innovation,” the Director General , National Productivity Centre, Dr Nasir Mustatpha, said that studies over the years showed that Nigeria is yet to get to get to the dreams of the founding fathers productivity wise.

He said; “Our 30 year study of the Total Factor Productivity of the Nigerian Economy shows very high technical inefficiency and we felt that focusing on this at the summit will complement the efforts of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s [promotion of the Digital economy.

“As we get into the technical sessions, I am hopeful and certain that the knowledge that will be co-created, shared and gathered in the next two (2) days will guide and direct our policy makers on the challenges and solutions to the low technical inefficiency in our country,” Dr Raji said.

Nigeria’s Vice President, Abubakar Shettima who declared the summit open on Tuesday said that any meaningful development must be anchored of innovation.

He added that Nigeria and Nigerians are richly endowed with every resources needed for science, technology and innovation development.

Minister of Interior Mr Tunji Ojo who also addressed the participants, called on the National Productivity Centre, that while preaching high productivity attainment, the place of local content must not be lost.

The Minister stressed that productivity must be seen from the angle of Nigerians and the Zeal for efficiency.

Some topic treated at the technical session, include, “Navigating the future of work: Reskilling and internal Mobility-The ILO Experience, Technology, Innovation and the Future of Work in Nigeria and Smart Manufacturing in Nigeria: Applicability and Drawbacks”, among others.

There were also exhibition of made in Nigeria products.

The Summit ends today, Wednesday with the production of a communiqué.