The Nation Newspaper

Tag: economic

  • Our economic problems in correct perspective

    Nigeria is in recession is a fact. My prayer is that we do not transit from the present recession to depression. A cynic once defined recession as when your friend loses his job and depression as when one loses his job. Economics is a common sense science based on empirical but not experimental knowledge. The study of economics was for decades subsumed within the study of history until about the 19th century when in Scotland, it became part of what was called political economy.

    Many historians still approach the study of history from the angle of political economy. This is a hangover from the Marxist interpretation of history which sees political development from the prism of economic relations. Economics as we now know it became an independent field of study as late as the first decade of the 20th century. This means that the so-called utopian economists of the late 18th and early 19th centuries were strictly speaking not economists but philosophers. Neither can one also categorize Adam Smith the author of the “Wealth of Nations” (1776) and the father of free trade, political liberalism and perhaps an early prophet of globalization an economist in the strictest sense of the word.

    At the University of Ibadan, economics was first taught within the Department of History with emphasis on economic history. It was not until the late 1950s that the Department of Economics came unto its own. The debate is still out whether economics is strictly arts or science. Of course, economics is science just as history is also science, science here defined as knowledge. In fact, in many American and Canadian universities, history is taught within the faculty of social science because just like mathematics is the foundation for all the sciences both physical and biological, so is history the foundation of all social sciences. In fact history in the old Soviet Union and modern and successor Russian Federation, history is studied under the rubric of historical sciences.

    Pardon my long preamble. The reason for the recession in Nigeria can be explained easily. As a country, we were involved in harvest and over time we were eating not only our fruits, we also ate the seeds. The lack of savings led to the situation that when the price of our sole commodity – oil fell in the world market, our economy went into a tail spin. To compound matters, the militancy in the Niger Delta led to a 50 percent cut in production and consequent reduction in revenue.

    That is not all. The militants blow up of oil and gas pipelines including those carrying gas to electrical power plants led to reduction in power generation and distribution and reduction in industrial production and dependence on locally generated electricity by individuals. All this add to cost of production making prices of locally produced goods uncompetitive. This led to workers lay off and social disequilibrium manifesting in increased crime and criminality. The critical role of electricity is obvious when we compare electricity generated for a population of 180million in Nigeria being not up to 4000 megawatts compared to South Africa’s 150,000 megawatt for a population of less than 50million people. Industrialists in Nigeria say our minimum requirement is at least 100,000 megawatts

    Available policy choices in this circumstance are severely limited. We can solve our problems by increased production in the agricultural sector to cut food dependency on foreign countries. This is the reason for government through the Central Bank of Nigeria increasing support for rice growers since within a generation, Nigerians have suddenly become addicted to rice eating with the result that we are the second rice importing nation in the world. If India and China each with a population of around 1.3 billion can feed themselves, we should be able to do the same considering the fact of our vast arable land. This will require determination and serious planning by the state and federal governments and individual entrepreneurs. We should also find ways of abandoning the imports substitution wrong strategy on which our industries are based. We should plan to replace all imports in the food industries. The same should apply to all other industrial production as much as possible. The preferential allocation of foreign exchange to so-called industrial sector should stop. Industrialists after all these years should source for foreign exchange independently of the government or the central bank. Industries should export to source for their foreign exchange.

    All the four petroleum refineries should be given gratis, that is, free of charge to foreign companies with the only proviso that they should be made to function. This will end the corruption of annual budgets for repairs which in most cases are shoddily done or not done at all. Hopefully the Dangote refinery will come on stream early in 2019 and the combination of the production of all these refineries should turn us into refined petroleum exporting country like most of OPEC countries.

    The savings from the revamped agricultural sector, the now functioning refineries, and the refocusing of the entire industrial sector would release foreign exchange to lift up the value of our currency and impact positively on the growth and development of the economy to the extent that we will be in a strong position to rebuild the Niger Delta in a win-win situation for the whole country. But whatever it will require including handing over the power sector to foreigners for a while, we must fix the power sector so that power will be available all the time. Without power, we will be groping in the dark and our innumerable generators will continue to ruin our environment and our health. Regular supply of electricity is the key to industrial development and modernization of all vital sectors like transportation, communication, health, education and research.

    Lastly let us hope the current difficult situation would have taught us a lesson about prudential management of national resources away from squander mania of the previous regimes when our problem was not money but how to spend it. In this regard, I would like to advice the Lord Bishop of Ondo (Anglican Communion) to face his pastoral duties and not turn his pulpit into a political platform sermonizing about not probing previous regimes that may have been corrupt. Is the Lord Bishop totally ignorant of about almost 700 thousand dollars and billions of Naira seized by the federal government from members of the previous regime if as reported that the bishop said people are hungry while government is probing corruption. Can he not see the connection between a prostrate economy and the deleterious effect of corruption?

    No country is perfect and immune from the boom and bust cycle of economic life. What we need do is to put the economy of our country on an even keel so that we are able to absorb all future economic shocks. We should not continue in this current state of dependency on the West or on the East. No country is totally an island but total dependency is not healthy. I also do not believe that the management of the economy by the current government is the cause of the current recession. The problem began a long time ago. What has happened is the cumulative effect of years of bad management. There is enough blame to go round. Let us ensure that when next we are faced with economic problems, we will have the buffer which heritage savings like sovereign wealth fund will provide.

  • How to make economic roadmap work , by experts

    How to make economic roadmap work , by experts

    United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc Chairman Tony Elumelu, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and some experts, at the weekend, described the Economic Recovery & Growth Plan (ERGP) as the right pill for the country’s economic pains.

    Reacting to ERGP, launched last Wednesday by President Muhammadu Buhari to reboot the economy, they believe the roadmap will help in tackling the economic recession, if well-implemented.

    The ERGP priorities include: stable macroeconomic environment, agricultural development and food security, power and energy and transportation infrastructure, among others.

    The government proposed no fewer than 60 interventions to stimulate key areas of priority.

    Speaking with The Nation, NLC President Ayuba Wabba said the organised workers’ union did not only believe in the plan but was also part of it.

    Ayuba said: “We were consulted on it and we believe it will work out this time around. For us, what is important is that the implementation should be done.

    “When we looked at the plan, we had some issues with it and when we met with the Minister of Budget and National Planning, we expressed our observations.

    “Generally, it is a good plan because the government now has an instrument to directly tackle the recession in the country.”

    The Secretary General of the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), urged the Federal Government to engage all stakeholders in the implementation of the ERGP.

    “It is quite commendable that we have a growth and development plan for the nation. It is better late than never. All stakeholders including labour should be engaged in its implementation,” Aremu said.

    NLC’s  General Secretary Peter Eson-Ozo said the plan would help in tackling the nation’s economic woes by giving due attention to sectoral development.

    He, however, said that labour had emphasised that the plan should have targeted grassroots on a bottom-top approach.

    He expressed dismay that the grassroots was not sufficiently engaged in the process of the roadmap to economic recovery, saying that inputs from the constituencies and interest groups should have enriched such a document.

    According to him, stakeholders were not carried along from its conceptualisation to finishing. Rather, the government had only developed it consulting with stakeholders.

    Eson-Ozo said: “By the way, what is crucial is that they needed to dutifully implement it and see that the recession is actually tackled by all means.

    “So, we do hope that the policies evolved will work in the directions of the anticipated objectives and ultimately tackle the recession.”

    Although some capital market stakeholders and financial pundits commended the medium-term economic development plan 2017-2020. But many of the experts were cautious about the strategic direction and the plans’ implementation

    They said the economic blueprint could give the much-needed direction to government’s economic development agenda, especially with the inclusion of the critical stakeholders.

    The launch was attended by the leadership of the National Assembly, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and relevant Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs).

    According to them, the lack of political alignment within the ruling party and the various arms of government, the timing of the blueprint and the vagueness of the key performance indices (KPIs) to measure and guide its implementation may be its undoing.

    Commenting on the ERGP launch Elumelu noted that investors’ confidence was being restored and the productive sector being stimulated by the Federal Government’s latest moves, which according to him, were necessary to revamp the economy.

    He said: “I would like to commend the Federal Government of Nigeria and President Buhari on the recent launch of the ERGP. It is laudable that the government widely consulted with the private sector in putting together this economic plan, which I believe should help address the immediate critical need of the Nigerian economy.

    “As a stakeholder in Nigeria, I enjoin everyone to support these lofty agenda of the Government, which hopefully should see the economy return to its deserved high growth path,” Elumelu said.

    According to him, “no doubt, the fundamentals of the local economy remain strong and all must work with the government to harness the potentials, not only for today but also for the benefit of future generations.”

    GTI Capital Group Chief Operating Officer Kehinde Hassan said the success of any economic growth plan will rest on the wholesome political will and alignment to push through the bitter and decisive measures needed to drive some of the reforms.

    According to him, the government has not demonstrated enough political will to curb wastages and redirect the scarce resources to critical infrastructural development.

    The Buhari-led government remains as bloated as the previous administrations, he said.

    Citing Senegal that collapsed its bicameral national assembly into unicameral in critical measure to reduce cost of governance, Hassan urged the government to reduce the cost of governance to the barest minimum and invest more in capital projects for considerable economic gains.

    A chartered accountant, Mr. Kareem Ahmed, said the government should direct the ERGP towards solving the main economic problem of stable power, noting that no meaningful economic development could be achieved with erratic electricity.

    He said that rather than the usual long list of priorities, the ERGP should have focused on one or two major problems with identifiable solutions and timelines for achievement.

    “We believe the Federal Government’s peace-making initiative in the Niger Delta region is a necessity for the successful implementation of the ERGP as it will help the country enhance the earnings needed to deliver on the objectives of the new economic plan,” the Cowry Asset Management Limited stated.

    Some analysts expressed concern over lack of definite KPIs and the overall implementation of the roadmap.

    Afrinvest Securities cited the continuing vagueness of the country’s foreign exchange management targets, which were critical to attract the much-needed Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) required to support the ERGP.

    According to Afrinvest Securities, the absence of forward guidance on expected exchange rate posed a threat to the overall goal of stabilizing the macroeconomic environment.

    Afrinvest stated: “Our conversations with foreign investors continue to indicate that a bold policy action on the exchange rate and measures to improve liquidity in the space remain a major concern. Hence, a follow up guidance, beyond commitment to improve system liquidity as documented in the ERGP, is still a necessity.”

    Describing as laudable ongoing efforts to reduce fuel importation by revamping local refineries, the company noted that increased local production will boost government’s revenue drive. , these would require significant investment in capacity upgrade as well as close monitoring of operating performance.

    The Afrinvest analysts commended the ERGP for recognising the strategic importance of transport and transport infrastructure to the attainment of national economic objectives.

    They, however, pointed out that government’s spending alone might not be sufficient for the investment required to attain the desired result. He pushed for private sector participation for effective delivery.

    “Overall, we believe the ERGP like many economic road maps in Nigeria clearly captures the critical challenges currently facing the economy and proposes strategies to address them. However, our concern remains that Nigeria is often long on planning but short on implementation and delivery with recent policy pronouncements as references. That said, we believe that the plan to carve out a ‘Delivery Unit’ within the Presidency as well as the Ministry of Budget & National Planning to champion the monitoring, evaluation and implementation of the plan, is a step in the right direction,” Afrinvest stated.

    CardinalStone Partners described the ERGP as ambitious but that it would require much more hard work to achieve the broad targets under the plan. The firm faulted the ERGP for lack of specifics on the measures that would be adopted to improve foreign exchange liquidity and narrow the spread between the interbank and parallel market rates.

    It said: “After two years of policy execution malaise, a coherent policy was overdue. Whilst the plan provides some grounds to suggest an eventual lift-off given the ambitious targets that have been set, concerns persist regarding its actual implementation.

    “The biggest concern, which relates to whether a shift is underway that could restore confidence in the CBN’s management of the currency, is not explicitly answered by the plan. The wording on foreign exchange liberalisation suggests that this is still work in progress, and broadly adopts the need for flexibility, which in itself will not provide enough comfort for investors,” CardinalStone Partners said.

    The investment firm noted: “Achieving these targets in the next three years seems quite ambitious given the country’s sluggishness in policy implementation or execution.

    “Hence, we do not think the plan has provided enough basis to change our earlier expectations for the macro-environment and capital market activities in 2017.”

    The Project Director, Cassava: Adding Value for Africa(C:AVA), Prof Kolawole Adebayo identified political risk as a major threat to the successful implementation of government Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

    He noted that there were numerous threats to the success of the ERGP, with the plan coming at the tail end of the first term of the present regime.

    The government, he explained,  has barely one more year to prove that the  ERGP will not go the way of its forebears.

    According to him, there is little reason to question the government’s capacity to intervene if something goes seriously wrong after 2019.

    He said the success of the ERGP would depend not only on its implementation but also on the commitment of the succeeding administration to see it through to the terminal year.

    His words: “Some of the commodities zeroed on have longer gestation periods as a such as a short term development plan will work . I don’t think the component that deals with agriculture was well thought out.”

    He said the real challenge was whether the recommendations and policy issues in the plan were realistic, considering the short time frame, or whether the policies were not too ambitious in their targets.

    The National President of Federation of Agricultural Commodities Association of Nigeria, Dr Victor Iyama,  believes cutting  down on  spending and increasing infrastructural investment spending will set the stage for better growth.

    Iyama noted that it is possible for the government  to achieve these targets if it is well executed.

    He said: “All that is being planned is good but in this country, the challenge of poor execution.if well executed I see it working.”

    A Professor of Food science and fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Isaac Adeyemi ,noted  that  the blueprint  was necessary to address  the country’s economy would remain on a path of decline.

    He said government should take ownership of the plan, by taking responsibility for its full implementation.

    He said the private sector and stakeholders should be involved in the implementation of the plan. However, to strengthen governance.

    He said he would love to see performance management reflected not only “defined, clear and measurable deliverables for every ministry, department and agency of government,” but for same to become targets by which every minister and public office holder would be measured.

    An economist based in Lagos, Olatunji Adeoye, said one of the challenges facing the current administration was in the area of economy. He commended the ERGP policy plans adding that Nigerians should cooperate with the government to make the initiative work.

    He said it will give the economy the needed direction and opportunity to recover after it slipped into recession last year.

    He said many foreigners will not be interested in investing in the economy, and will also  have long-term plan on how to grow it. “We are likely to see more capital inflows as the economy takes shapes in the months ahead. We are happy that crude oil prices is rising and will continue to rise in the coming months and that is important for the economy to recover,” he said.

    Another economist, Lasak Mojeed, said implementation of the ERGP is key because here  are several exceptional and great documents that are in the custody of government but are never implemented. He said the ERGP is a great concept but will be greater at implementation.

    “Until we see it  working, and government moves from paper to action, nothing will come out of it,” he said.

    He said the content of the ERGP shows that government is already approaching the solution to the nation’s economic challenges with the same will and commitment it had demonstrated in the fight against corruption and economic development.

    He said the fact that the ERGP had brought together all the sectoral plans for agriculture and food security, energy and transport infrastructure, industrialisation and among others means it can actually be used to revive the economy.

    The President, Shippers Association Lagos State, Mr Jonathan Nicol, also said the number of empty containers leaving the ports were many because the government and the people of Nigeria were yet to go back to the land as it was done using the first republic.

    “Agriculture was the main stay of the economy before the oil was discovered in large quantity. Successive government had paid lip services to the development of agricultural sector. Therefore,  it is to the benefit of Nigeria and Nigerians if the current administration focuses of the sectors to boost the economy and provide employment to the restive youths across the country,” he said.

    But, an importer, Mr Sesan Adelaja, cautioned the government to be careful of portfolio farmers that truncated the Operation Feed the Nation and Green Revolution initiatives of Obasanjo and Shehu Shagari administrations.

    Adelaja identified peasant farming as the bane of agricultural development of the country and urged the governments at all levels to embrace mechanized farming to boost export.

    The ERGP initiative, he said, would only have meaning to Nigerians if it translates to foods on their tables and money into their pockets.

    Odilim Enwegbara, an economist, told The Nation that “the problem here is that there’s no fully interrogated economic recovery and growth road map. Economic assumptions they have made in the ERGP are too generic and too loose. They might have told some beautiful stories, but there is truly nothing serious accompnaying the beautiful economic stories. In other words, all was done without specificity and without how they will be achieved and the specific outcomes.”

    Economic road map, he noted, “like a building architectural drawings should only make sense when the bill of quantities is known and financing sources are clearly stated. In other words, it is not enough to state some good economic intentions unless they are accompanied with enough ways about how they are to be realised.”

  • ITF:  Towards economic prosperity

    The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) is the human capital development agency of government charged with the responsibility to train and retrain the nation’s human capital through various programmes and policies.

    The Fund’s new DG/CEO, Sir Joseph Ari,  has a new template to do the needful in areas such as Agriculture, which is a major preoccupation of most Nigerians and a key component of the economic diversification agenda.  For instance, the Fund intends to develop the capacity of Nigerian farmers along the agricultural value chain. Specific areas targeted by the plan include fish farming, poultry production, crop production, Agric-mechanization, Agric-business and post-harvest management, manure production, Technology and farm management, and water resource management.

    To actualise this, the Fund has commenced the training of 17,000 farmers using its Industrial Skills Training Centre (ISTC) in Kano and the Centre for Excellence in Jos and undeveloped lands owned by the ITF in states for the establishment of demonstration farms.  This is even as efforts are in place to acquire land in eight states – Anambra, Benue, Kano, Plateau, Gombe, Oyo, Ogun and Niger for the same purpose.  In view of the breadth of this plan, the Fund will collaborate with States, Ministries of Agriculture, existing local farmers, farmers’ associations like Fadama for farm equipment, seedlings and capacity building and also explore the possibility of financial grants from International and Local Agencies including Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Central Bank of Nigeria and Bank of Industry amongst others. The plan on agriculture is premised on the conviction that to achieve food security and conserve the huge foreign reserve that is currently expended on the importation of food items, the requisite capacity of Nigerians farmers must be developed.

    In the construction sector, the Fund intends to equip Nigerians with skills in these areas: welding and fabrication, reinforcing metal works, domestic electrical installation, carpentry and joinery, tiling, masonry, block and brick making, plumbing and pipe fitting and Plaster Of Paris (POP) making. According to the plan, in 2017 alone, the ITF will train 18,500 Nigerians in the aforementioned trade and craft areas using ITF Industrial Skills Training Centres and selected satellite centres. To ensure achievement of this ambition, the Fund will enter into collaboration with agencies and organisations like Cement Technology Institute of Nigeria (CTIN), Nigerian Institute of Builders (NIOB), Julius Berger Plc and SETRACO amongst others for technical and financial assistance.

    For the Services industry, the ITF will build the capacity of Nigerians in 17 trade and craft areas including: GSM repairs, generator repairs, computer hardware repairs, software installation, marketing, catering services, event management, automobile and tri-cycle maintenance and repairs, autotronics, tailoring, air condition and refrigeration maintenance and repairs, ICT web design, satellite dish installation and maintenance, facility maintenance and repairs and interior decoration. In all, 9,250 Nigerians will be equipped with these skills.

    In addition, efforts have been stepped up, under the plan, for the formal commissioning of the Lokoja ISTC, even as plans are underway towards the establishment of 36 Industrial Skills Training Centres in the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Similarly, three Automotive Parts Production and Training Centres will be established in Badagary, Nnewi and Kaduna while six Centres of Advanced Skills Training for Employment (CASTE) will be sited in the six geopolitical zones of the country. Three specialized Centres in Oil and Gas will also be established. All these projects are expected to be completed between 2018 and 2020.

    Sir Ari’s body language shows that Nigeria is in a hurry to join the industrialised nations of the world where the populace will be trained and retrained to meet needs of the people. With this spirit, Sir Ari said,  ”barely one month in office, Management unveiled a ‘home made’ Plan that was wholly generated internally by staff’.

    The plan, which is tagged as the ITF Reviewed Vision: Strategies for Actualisation of Mandate is captured in quick wins, Medium and long-term goals. A number of programmes have been earmarked for implementation as quick wins. They include:

    • National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP) which commenced in 18 states of the federation on 1stMarch, 2017.
    • Technical Skills Development Programme (TSDP) in collaboration with NECA.
    • Skills training on wheels using our Mobile Training Units.
    • Training people to turn passion to profession.
    • Women Skills Empowerment Programme (WOSEP) and
    • Development Agricultural Entrepreneurs (Agripreneur).

    In addition to these, we shall continue to identify the training needs of our contributing employers and develop cost effective training programmes as intervention strategies in line with our mandate. Scheduled and unscheduled training programmes will be implemented in our thirty seven (37) Area Offices and five (5) Industrial Skills Training Centres.  Safety programmes will be promoted and implemented for companies based on identified needs. We shall also continue to render any service required by public and private sectors as contained in our mandate.”

    Since Sir Ari assumed office, as the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, ITF has witnessed many unemployed youths being trained and graduating from various skill acquisition centres of the Industrial Training Fund, ranging from Tailoring and Fashion Design, Carpentry and Joinery, Interior Decoration and Bag making.  Sir Ari’s mandate is huge, but the tasks are achievable based on his deep inside ITF knowledge and wherewithal.

    Nigeria should rest assured the core mandate will be achieved to the fullest. Sir Ari achieved greatness through sheer hard work, honesty and commitment. As a lawyer, business administrator and broadcaster par excellence, eloquent scholar and patriot, he is also selfless, humble to a fault, and a team player. It is his philosophy that managers/leaders should at all times live exemplary lives of service and add value always. He is focused on ensuring that the Fund staff work towards the full actualisation of the mandate, which is necessary for any organisation to thrive. In fact, he strongly believes the Fund has a serious role to play in helping to get the country out of economic recession.

  • Ekweremadu seeks regional economic integration by states

     …says volatile exchange rate killing industries, SMEs

    Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has made case for regional economic integration by the states of the federation along their geopolitical zones.

    Ekweremadu said such regional economic integration would fast-track the country’s industrialisation.

    This is even as he said the failure to maintain a uniform exchange rate was antithetical to the promotion of the industrial sector and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, SMEs.

    He linked the flight and death of many industries and enterprises to the failure to maintain uniform exchange rate..

    A statement by his media aide, Uche Anichukwu, said that Ekweremadu spoke at the opening of the 28th Enugu International Trade Fair yesterday, where he also advocated linkages between different groups of enterprises as big businesses had more access to international trade and investment links.

    The Senator said states stood to gain more and develop commerce, industry, mines, and agriculture faster when they converge their potentials and resources to benefit from the economies of scale.

    To encourage this, however, he said the nation needed restructuring to allow the federating units reasonable autonomy and constitutional empowerments to take initiatives.

    Ekweremadu said: “Contiguous to regional economic integration is the need for restructuring to move matters like power, railway, aviation, ports, and mineral resources, among others to the concurrent list. That way, states will not have to depend on the federal government for the critical infrastructure needed to drive industrialisation.

    “With this and visionary leaders, the South East can easily become the Japan, Dubai, and Europe of Africa rolled into one, given the entrepreneurial capacities and ingenuity of our people as well as the potentials already shown by Nnewi, Onitsha, and Aba.

    “By their convergence, for instance, South East States can easily attract investors or pool their resources to establish industrial parks, develop the Onitsha seaport, dredge the River Niger, revive the Oji River Power Station or build an entirely new one. This is the way to go.”

    He further called for systemic inter-governmental and inter-agency collaboration and synergy, where each State and Local Government is able to optimize its potentials.

    To this end, he said the report of the ‘One Local Government One Product’, OLOP, and study carried out by SMEDAN to identify unique products or services in each of the 774 local government areas in Nigeria should be taken seriously with a view to developing them to be competitively attractive in the global markets.

    The Deputy Senate President advised government to take steps to arrest the exchange rate volatility and create special tax regimes for SMEs, noting that “currency volatility is worse than high exchange rates as it makes planning and business transactions extremely difficult”.

    He appealed to the federal government and the states to design a special tax regime for SMEs to help them to grow.

    “In the midst of highly deficit socio-economic infrastructure, running businesses in our country is a herculean task, especially for upcoming firms, hence the need to streamline and trim their taxes”.

  • ‘Skill acquisition vital to economic recovery’

    ‘Skill acquisition vital to economic recovery’

    Mrs Janet Jolaoso is the President/Chairman of Council, Nigerian Institute of Training & Development (NITAD). In this interview, she says no organisation can grow without continuous training of workers. She speaks with Assistant Editor Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie

    What does Nigerian Institute of Training & Development (NITAD) have to offer to industries in these days of recession?

    The institute has a vision, which is to be a world-class body in learning, training, facilitation and development. Our main focus is to develop and maintain best practices in these four areas by providing mandatory, continuous professional education to our members, so that they can  deliver effectively when they have clients. I believe knowledge is light.When they deliver effectively, there will be increase in productivity and we will also be able to influence our environment through this positively. It is about ensuring that people change for better, so that the economy can improve.

    When you talk of ensuring best practices, is it in the private or the public sector?

    It is for both the public and private sectors. Training and development cut across everything in life. After your education in the university, nobody actually gather people to teach them management. You begin as a professional medical doctor, engineer or whatsoever your field is. But as time goes on and you acquire more experience and prove yourself to be good, you begin to manage people. So, NITAD is to ensure that you have effective management of people, so that they can deliver.

    You have talked about increasing productivity and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In practical terms, how can you achieve this?

    In this age and time, people need to look inwards to see what they can do. We come in by helping to see how attitudes, skills and knowledge can increase.The more knowledgeable you are about a certain job, the better you become in doing it and when you sharpen your skills, it helps in cost reduction. Money and jobs are scarce in the country but improving skill and attitude can go a long way to being cost effective and   affording people the opportunity to afford a particular product against its competitors. All these can curb recession. The idea is that if your price does not increase much and the value that people are getting from your products on the other hand is increasing, no matter how bad the recession period may look, you will still keep being in business. So, these are the areas we come in to improve the skills, knowledge and attitude of people through effective training packages.

    How do you structure your training to fight poverty? Does it include those in the lower rung of the ladder?

    We have postgraduate diploma in various courses that can help to upscale people, especially in lower management cadre and we have also developed what we call a finishing school. So, if one has a School Leaving Certificate, for instance, and is seeking admission and may be without money to do anything for yourself, we will be able to help you look inwards for what you can do. Many young people roaming the streets find it difficult to articulate their thoughts and see where their passion lies. When I was in secondary school in Mayflower, we had different societies – shoe making, wrist watch repairing, and catering. We were taught how to repair shoes, wrist watches, change bulbs, etc. Some who couldn’t get admission into tertiary institutions for one reason or the other went into these businesses and some of them are very successful cobblers today. Our desire is to help to pursue their passion; our belief is that it is not a university degree that can make one successful. We not only train people on lucrative skills but also help them raise funds and expose them to markets. And for the young graduates, a lot of them don’t really understand what etiquette is all about. For instance, you want to go for interview, how do you prepare yourself for people to see you as the preferred candidate above and among others? So, we prepare them in terms of dressing, approach, mannerisms. Some people fail interview because of their mannerisms, dressing; when you see green on red, you wonder where to start. All these are things we are packaging because it is a big market and it is a large gap from coming out of the university. That’s why we say education does not make a man. It is not only in character alone, it is also in your appearance and mannerisms.

    Most organisations lack the basic rudiments of ethics.Does your institute  address these?

    We organise learners’ forum at least once in a year and we look for a topic that is germane to situations in the country. Corruption is endemic and is not allergic to any sector, people tend to see corruption as a public sector thing but l disagree. The only difference is that in the private sector, the likelihood of the owners of a business challenging a manager, for instance, is high unlike in the public service. Due to bureaucracy and nepotism, people are not held responsible for whatever job they are given. To tackle corruption in Nigeria, we need to attack the mind-set. Once we can address the inner man to start thinking differently, they will behave differently.

    As the president of the institute, what are your achievements?

    When we came on board, we set up an eight-point agenda. One of them is to complete our chartered status processing.  Currently, our Bill has gone through the first and second readings in the House of Representatives and public hearing. We will be at the Senate in a few weeks. This is very significant because if we are not backed by law, we will not be able to regulate training, development, facilitation and learning in the country. When we are chartered, before anybody can engage in consultancy or training as a means of reward profession, he must register with us. For example, if a woman wants to cook, there are some steps you must take. If you don’t take those steps, the result will not be the same. If you want to be a trainer, there are steps you must take and there are certain principles you must know to effectively deliver the value that the client is expecting. Aside from the fact that we regulate that, and make sure that when you are buying into anybody’s services, you ask for evidence of being a member of NITAD because any member of NITAD must have gone through training the trainer. We also produce the membership directory and categorise our members as part of the agenda. The other thing is to also improve the soft skill areas of training. Whether you are working in a company or you are manager, you need management skills to manage your people effectively. What happens is that some people are promoted but this intervention is not there so when they become executive directors for instance, they will lack managerial skills. In that situation what you see is a executive managing the job instead of managing the people who will manage the job. In most cases, you will see some bosses go over their immediate subordinates because nobody taught them to manage the people, but only trained to manage the job.Another achievement is that we have raised our acceptance index. We now see people calling us, obtaining out forms at very high profile level. We have people from the National Assembly, director-generals and Heads of Service that are willing to join us.

    What is your advice to the government in terms of job creation?

    The government needs to come up with a policy, including creating a body that will look into skill acquisition and implementation. There must be a body, an independent agency, that should be dedicated to skill acquisition and full implementation. Furthermore, when people have acquired the needed skill, avenues must be created to empower them until they practise what they have learnt. Many youths are frustrated because they have gone ahead to acquire skills without funding for them. Our proposition to the government is to come up with an interest-free loan with less stringent conditions. This will help create entrepreneurs who will be employers.

    What role is NITAD playing to regulate learning and development?

    We are kick-starting our mandatory continuous professional examination this month for our members. And, invariably, when you are chartered, if you want to be a training consultant, you must be our member. Not only that, you will go through training the trainer course, but you also have to have this mandatory continuous examina-tion. You must know what is going on in other countries and you must know the best way to deliver the value that your clients are expecting from you. We keep upgrading our knowledge and we also want to pass this on to our members.

    Who are these members?

    We have various members, such as those training for reward in the administrative sector and those heading training departments. Our members cut across all professions but mainly those who are into training and development either for reward or for where they are working as leaders. We also have student members. They go through the PostGraduate Diploma (PGD). In addition we are also collaborating with the University of Ibadan (UI), where people can come for our course and use it to obtain a degree.

  • Fashola, Adeosun, others for IIM’s economic recovery confab

    The Minister of Power, Works & Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, Minister, Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma are set for this year’s annual lecture of the Institute of Information Management (IIM).

    The lecture is slated for tomorrow at the University of Lagos.

    Other members of the Federal Executive (FEC) expected at the occasion are the Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and the and his counterpart in the  Labour & Employment Ministry, Dr. Chris Ngige.

    Fashola will grace the occasion as guest speaker. Information Management: A Strategic Tool for Economic Recovery & Growth is the of the forum.

    The event is also expected to recognise and honour different stakeholders, including past and present public office holders, captains of industries including leaders in different sectors of the economy.

    President/Chairman Board of Directors/Governing Council,  IIM-Africa, Dr. Oyedokun  Oyewole, said  the event is aimed at highlighting the role of IM in supporting and ensuring adequate implementation of government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

  • ‘Infrastructure vital to economic growth’

    ‘Infrastructure vital to economic growth’

    Sohail Ahmed Khan is the new Managing Director of MAN Diesel & Turbo Nigeria Pvt. Ltd. With its Nigerian subsidiary, the German engineering company seeks to contribute to industrial growth in Nigeria and the West Africa sub-region. Assistant Editor Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie  met him.

    What is MAN Diesel & Turbo’s business focus in Nigeria?

    Our products are at the heart of various key industries. Examples include large diesel engines and power plants, as well as compressors and turbines, especially in Nigeria. We are a strong partner for the oil and gas industry, for power generation and large-scale industrial production. And from here, we serve customers across the West African region, namely the ECOWAS countries.

    Your company opened its subsidiary in Lagos in 2015. Now the industrial growth rate in Nigeria is declining, how does it impact on your plans?

    It is true that the economy has suffered lately, mainly from dropping oil prices. But we are convinced that this will not interfere with the long-term growth potential. A positive example is a multi-million dollar order that we were able to book some weeks ago, to provide turbo machinery equipment for the Dangote Refinery in Lagos. It is nothing less than Africa’s largest refinery that is being built here in Nigeria. This billion-dollar investment by the Dangote Group is a good example of the added value we bring in terms of technology.

    What is the most important need of the economy?

    Infrastructure is the important need the economy can build on, whether a stable power supply or a dependable transport network for oil and gas. An example, one can think of the West African pipeline and the Trans Sahara pipeline project, the second one still to be built. Both are infrastructure projects opening up new markets for natural gas from Nigeria, requiring a safe and reliable technologybase.

    On the other hand, an evolving economy like Nigeria requires more depth of added value, and this has  started.We see it in projects with our customers, including requirements for in-country value. The country will profit from broadening its industrial footprint. An illuminating example is again the Dangote Refinery project: by prolonging the value chain into the downstream sector, more value will be created within the country, while also reducing the need for fuel imports.

    What about the industries not related to oil and gas?

    Irrespective of business sectors,  reliable energy supply is crucial for Nigeria. Whether for the booming banking sector, or just for powering the many mobile phones, the country needs electricity. We see an instant demand here for generation capacities of around 4 GW.

    As a country rich in oil and gas, many economic questions are obviously related to that business. But apart from that, or from power generation, MAN Diesel & Turbo provides products and services to a range of industries. We are here to support the Nigerian growth path as a whole, be it with equipment for the fertiliser industry, for the steel or cement industry oreven for paper production.

    Your company is one of the oldest in Europe, with a history of more than 250 years. What experience does it have in doing business in Africa?

    We have been doing business in Africa for about six decades. The initial projects of the company date back to the 1950s, when we first delivered power generation technology to Mali and Senegal. Today, we have an installed base of almost 1000 turbo machinery casings and an engine base of far more than 3 GW, delivered to more than 35 countries in Africa.

    As an ambassador of Germany-based technology, MAN Diesel & Turbo also has subsidiaries in Kenya, South Africa and Egypt, and we are about to expand this network in Africa in the near future. Our service workshops enable us to process service and maintenance orders regionally. And with more than 250 employees on the continent and a pool of field service engineers, we are available with a single call, wherever our customers in Africa are.

    What about your projection for Nigeria in the near future?

    Nigeria is surely more than oil and gas, if you just think of the booming online sector, especially for mobile payment and banking. Yet, the country’s economy still strongly depends on the worldwide oil prices. Happily, we are  seeing first signs of relief here.

    I see more diversification and a growing industry base in Nigeria. Again, the refinery sector is a good example, which the government is opening up for private investment. Not the least, this will help Nigeria to profit from increased in-country value. The country is about to choose its path when it comes tostrengthening its industrialinfrastructure with reliable and even eco-friendly technology.

  • FG releases Economic Recovery Plan

    The Federal Government has released the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) which unveils a road map for Nigeria’s economic recovery growth and sustainable development.

    The Media Adviser to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, James Akpandem, announced this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

    According to the adviser, the ERGP is available on the ministry’s website, www.nationalplanning.gov.ng and that of the Budget Office, www.budgetoffice.gov.ng.

    Akpandem said that the development of the plan went through rigorous processes, including wide consultation and robust engagement with stakeholders.

    “The plan has been approved by the Federal Executive Council. The core vision of the plan is one of sustained inclusive growth.

    “There is an urgent need as a nation, to drive structural economic transformation with emphasis on improving both public and private sector efficiency.

    “The aim is to increase national productivity and achieve sustainable diversification of production, to significantly grow the economy and achieve maximum welfare for the citizens, beginning with food and energy security,’’ he said.

    The official said that the plan envisaged that by 2020, Nigeria would have made significant progress towards achieving structural economic change with a more diversified and inclusive economy.

    He said that the plan was expected to deliver on five key broad outcomes, namely: a stable macroeconomic environment, agricultural transformation and food security as well as sufficiency in energy.

    Other outcomes, he said, would be on improved transportation infrastructure and industrialisation, focusing on small and medium scale enterprises.

    Akpandem said that the ERGP was different from previous strategies and plans because it focused on implementation, at the core of the delivery strategy over the next four years.

    He said that it outlined bold initiatives such as ramping up oil production to 2.5 million barrels per day (mbpd) by 2020.

    “It focuses on privatising selected public enterprises/assets, and revamping local refineries to reduce petroleum product imports by 60 per cent by 2018.

    “It builds on existing sectoral plan such as the National Industrial Revolution Plan and the Nigeria Integrated Infrastructure Master-plan.

    “The plan signals a changing relationship between the public and private sector, based on close partnership.

    “It also utilises the value of the merger of budget and planning functions into one ministry, to create a better and stronger link between annual budgets and the ERGP.”

    In addition, he said that the plan would provide for strong coordination with the states to ensure that the federal and sub-regional governments worked towards the same goals.

    Akpandem said that the ceremonial presentation of the plan would take place when President Mohammadu Buhari, returned from vacation. (NAN)

  • Agriculture as driver of economic growth

    Agriculture, from time immemorial, has been associated with the production of basic food crops. Agriculture and farming are synonymous terms used long before farming became commercialised. But as the process of economic development accelerated, many other allied occupations in farming came to be recognised as a part of agriculture.

    Presently, agriculture includes forestry, fruit cultivation, dairy, poultry, mushroom farming and bee keeping, etc. Today, processing, marketing and distribution of agricultural products are all accepted as a part of modern agricultural business.

    Thus, agriculture may be defined as the production, processing, marketing and distribution of crops and livestock products. According to Webster’s Dictionary, agriculture is the art or science of production of crops and livestock on farm. It means cultivation and breeding of animals, plants and fungi for food, fiber, biofuel, medicinal plants and other products used to sustain and enhance human life.

    Agriculture was the key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured development.

    The history of agriculture dates back thousands of years, and its development has been driven and defined greatly by climates, cultures, and technologies. Industrial agriculture, which is based on large-scale monoculture farming, has become the dominant agricultural methodology.

    It is safe to say agriculture plays a crucial role in the growth of any country’s economy. It is the backbone of the economy. Agriculture does not only provide food and raw material, but also employment opportunities.

    Agriculture as a source of livelihood in India provides countless jobs for the country’s working population. In Nigeria, significant percentage of our population engages in agriculture. In advanced countries, this percentage is small compared to Nigeria. This is because non-agricultural sector has not been harnessed to create source of income to the country.

    Before crude oil was discovered, agriculture was the main source of our national income. According to a report on national income, it was said 52 per cent of Nigeria’s earning in 1960 and 1961was contributed by agriculture and allied occupations. Between 1976 and 1977, agriculture sector alone contributed 42.2 per cent, while in 1981 and 1982, agriculture’s contribution was to the tune of 41.8 per cent.

    Between 1999 and 2000, agriculture contributed 32.4 per cent to national income. This was further reduced to 28 per cent in 2001 and 2002. Contrary to this, agricultural incomes in the country of the West were smaller compared to Nigeria’s before the millennium. But the development we have had in the sector is not commensurate with the earning.

    Agriculture also provides fodder for livestock. Cow and buffalo provide protective food in the form of milk and they also provide draught power for farm operations. Moreover, it also meets the food requirements of the people. Import of food grains has been very small in recent years. Rather export avenues are being explored to open the market for the product.

    Agricultural products, such as rice, tobacco and spices constitute the main items of exports in India. If the development process of agriculture is smooth, export increases and imports are reduced considerably.

    Thus, it helps to reduce the adverse balance of payments and save our foreign exchange. This amount can be well utilised to import other necessary raw-material and machinery which are useful for the growth of the economy.

    The development of agricultural sector leads to marketable surplus. As country develops, more and more people are engaged in mining, manufacturing and other non-agricultural sector.

    As agriculture develops, output increases and marketable surplus expands. This can be sold to other countries. Here, it is worth mentioning that the development of Japan and other countries were made possible by the surplus of agriculture. There is no reason why this could not be done in Nigeria.

    Agriculture has been the source of raw materials to industries, such as cotton and textile, sugar, tobacco, edible and non-edible oils. Apart from these, many others, such as processing of fruits and vegetables, dal milling, rice husking and jaggery also depend on agriculture for their raw materials.

    According to United Nations (UN) survey, the industries with raw material from agriculture accounted for 50 per cent of value-added tax and 64 per cent of all jobs in industrial sector of developing countries. Besides, the finances of government, to the large extent, are augmented from the earnings of agricultural sector.

    As a contributor to foreign exchange resources, agriculture constitutes an important place in the country’s export trade. According to a report, agricultural commodities like oilseeds, raw cotton, and coffee accounted for about 18 per cent of the total value of exports in India. This shows that agriculture products still continue to be significant source of earning foreign exchange.

    Aside the vast employment opportunities agriculture provides in this age of mechanised farming, the sector has the potential to boost the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in this period when the demand for oil is dwindling.

    The rapid rate of growth in agriculture gives progressive outlook and further motivation for development. As a result, it helps to create proper atmosphere for general economic development in the country. This means economic development depends on the rate at which agriculture grows.

    The development of agriculture provides necessary capital for the development of other sectors, such as manufacturing industry, transport and foreign trade. In fact, a balanced development of agriculture and industry should be the focus of the government.

    From the foregoing, it can be concluded that agriculture plays an important role in the growth of the nation’s economy. It practised properly, it would be the needed sop for achieving irreversible economic development.

     

    • Salma is of the Department of Mass Communication, IBB University, Lapai, Niger State.

  • Southeast states plan economic integration

    •Ohanaeze leadership endorsed •Umahi leads forum

    The Southeast Governors’ Forum yesterday agreed to work on an economic plan to integrate the region.

    The governors endorsed the executive of the socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, led by Chief John Nnia Nwodo.

    The governors picked Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi to lead the forum.

    Umahi, who spoke on behalf of the governors, urged Ndigbo to support the present leadership of the socio-cultural organisation.

    Umahi, who was introduced by Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, said the governors met with the Ohanaeze leadership and the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, on issues affecting the welfare of the region.

    He said they agreed to work together on economy and security, particularly kidnapping.

    “We decided to have proper economic integration of the Southeast zone.

    “And in this regard we have instructed the economic commissioners  of the various states to come out with a blue print, “ Umahi said.

    Governors of the five southeast states were in attendance.