The Nation Newspaper

Tag: productivity

  • Labour productivity high despite challenges

    Despite the high unemployment rate prevailing and productivity challenges, the  labour productivity increased from N669.57 million in the first quarter to N730.8 million in the second quarter of this fiscal year.

    National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which made this known in its 2015 Labour Force Surveys, also noted that the nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP), rises year-in, year-out by 5.17 per cent..

    According to the survey, although, economic growth has been high and stable in recent years, however the constraints on productivity of labour and other factor inputs continues to put a drag on overall economic growth.

    Specifically, labour productivity refers to the quantity of labour input required to produce a unit of output.

    This is often the case, even though it is recognised that labour is not the only input utilised in the production process.

    Among key measures of the well-being of an economy is the level and growth of economic output, commonly known as the GDP. High labour productivity could be an important signal of the improvement in real incomes (wages of labour).

    It is recognised that labour productivity is not necessarily an indicator of the effort of each worker, but it still provides a useful measure of the rewards to labour as a factor in the production process.

  • Regional integration and enhanced productivity as a recipe for paradigm shift in the Southwest (II)

    Regional integration and enhanced productivity as a recipe for paradigm shift in the Southwest (II)

    (Continued from last Friday)

    Among these include the first television station in Africa (now NTA), the first stadium in West Africa (Liberty Stadium), the first tallest building tropical Africa (Cocoa House) and the famous free education programme.

    What is most significant for me, within the context of today’s gathering and our concern, is the opportunity that these states now have to constitute a veritable model for national productivity, regional integration and other regional centres of excellence that others of the country and the continent can proudly emulate. The Schumpeterian spirits and unbridled entrepreneurship that were the building blocks of the foundation of the Old Western Region have been compromised.

    The need to reform the national productivity paradigm of Nigeria became obvious to me a long time ago in my continuous attempt to resolve the dysfunctionality of the Nigerian Civil Service. The necessity of a radical rethinking of a productivity-oriented Nigerian state has never been more compelling than now. Nigeria’s long decades of oil exploration and high growth figures have been accompanied by low productive capacity (de-industrialization), high unemployment and rising poverty and inequality. Nigeria presents a good case of a development paradox – “poverty in the midst of plenty” or “a resource curse development syndrome”. Such a paradox calls for deep rethinking and reflection on the country’s development model and paradigm. Any development paradigm that is not anchored on productive capacity and human development will remain non-inclusive and unsustainable. Such countries will not be able to effectively translate economic growth into economic development that substantially transforms the wellbeing and living conditions of citizens.

    The philosophical underpinning of the Western Region was entrepreneurship – based on building the ‘cake of development’. In the process of sharing from the ‘national cake’, the Schumpeterian spirit and professionalism have been replaced with patronage, nepotism and clientelism. Sooner than later, the region experienced a cliff, by falling from its productivity apogee to a trough.  Our ingenuity, innovativeness, and the cliché of a pace setter disappeared.  The Yoruba euphemism of ‘ajise bi Oyo laari, Oyo kiise bi omo enikankan’ turned to become a business as usual spirit – a cancer that destroyed our innovativeness and originality.

    At some point in time, the Western Region and Nigeria failed to emulate the paradigm shift that raised development frontier in the old western region. There are some of the structural factors that steadily took us to the development trough include:

    • The dynamics and operational mechanics of the relationship between productivity, performance and service delivery is not systematically managed, researched or tapped for effective policy implementation. Instead, we allowed nepotism and inefficiency to overtake productivity and performance.
    • Government remains the single largest employer of labour and provider of services in the economy with size and wage bill that is unsustainable and cry for restructuring within the logic that it will get worse before it will get better or in the language of reform, you can’t eat omelette without cracking egg. By the time we realized it, the proportion of capital expenditure at the Federal Government level fell from 41.67 percent during 1981-1990 to mere 17.77 percent during 2003-2014. The situation in some states is even worse. The resources meant for the entire population is being used to service less than 1.0 percent of the population.
    • The Nigerian economy remains mono-sectoral. The managers of the economy failed to decouple the economy and its sustenance away from oil. While countries like United Arab Emirate and Norway succeeded in decoupling their economy from oil, Nigeria became more enmeshed in the fortune and vagaries of oil. We were trapped into boom and burst of oil revenues with rising expectations from the public on government, including wage increase, subsidies going beyond capacity, and free meal at schools.

    Fiscal policy, if well managed, could be a veritable tool of development management. The Nigerian situation has proved worrisome and challenging in charting the course of development. Reversing the fiscal dependency syndrome remains a tall challenge.  The 1960s, when the Western Region was contributing to the Federal purse through the Cocoa Marketing Board, witnessed substantial regional and physical development such as the construction of the tallest house in tropical Africa and the most state of the art university (then University of Ife, known to be the second most beautiful university in Africa, after University of Alexandra in Egypt). However, when we moved from baking the cake to sharing the cake, development fortune plummeted.  The region that was setting the pace of national development in the 1960s and 1970s became a region with ‘cap-in-hand’ thereafter – relying on the Federal Government to finance its development.  State Governments barely generate about 17 percent of their total available revenues. Figure 1, shows the capacity of state government to generate internal revenues.

    How do Western States performed relative to national average in revenue generation? Using 2013, as a reference year, only three states Lagos, Ogun and Oyo performed above the national average of 15.3 percent of total revenues. Over the years, Lagos has been collecting more than 50.0 percent of its total revenues: down from 63.5 percent in 2008 to 54.9 percent in 2011 and 53.02 percent in 2013. Next is Ogun from 27.5 percent in 2008 to 31.08 percent in 2013. Oyo is also above the national average – 19.2 percent in 2013. The contiguity of these states, tends to promote fiscal policy harmonization, could be an advantage. The contiguity of the Western region therefore remains an opportunity that should rub-on on all the states of the region. This calls for regional integration and fiscal policy harmonization.  Although the fiscal power is still very low, Ondo State is one of the states with rising fiscal efforts. For instance, Ondo State ranked highest among states with an increased IGR/TR ratio from 2.1 per cent in 2010 to 8.6 per cent in 2011. This is followed by Kogi and Bauchi States.

    The level of fiscal dependence has created some fiscal inequality among states (Figure 3) – with Lagos State accounting for about 50 percent of the total internally generated revenues in the country. This is further driving inequality in wages between the centre and the periphery and, consequently deepening underdevelopment of the sub regions. This calls for mentorship and benchmarking between performing and struggling states on IGR

    The current growth and development model, built around a resource-base factor (oil) is counterproductive to the country and particularly the South West. The inability to decouple the national and state economies from oil is creating some dependency that could derail inclusive and sustain development in the Western Region. It takes little reflection to see why such a bottom-up growth trajectory automatically supports the craving for regional integration economies of scale among the states in the Southwest. Regional integration has equally been signalled as a potent factor in the economic successes of some of the advanced economic nations of the world. The story of Chinese development remains incomplete without regionalization, especially the delta cultivation.  There is no reason why the southwest would not toe this path even if it is just to advance it’s development agenda.

    The recalibration of Western Region development agenda call for some paradigm shift that allows for inclusive and sustainable development. This can be honed on two building blocks – productivity paradigm and regionalization prism. Building and enhancing productive capacity is the only long-term means of improving and sustaining national wealth. Shifting the productivity frontier calls for a new service compact between the people and government, not only in terms of service delivery but also in terms of fiscal citizenship. There is quid-pro-quo in fiscal-development conundrum. Quality services propel people to willingly pay taxes and reduce tax evasion. Inefficiency service delivery creates a wedge between the government and the governed on taxes and levies. It also calls for a compact between the Governors and the various MDAs, and between the Ministries and their various departments and agencies as well as social contract between the public and the private sector as well as the civil organizations. Moving on to the next level of development paradigm calls for a professional, agile, well-remunerated and committed public service.

    Productivity enhancement provides the link between innovation and entrepreneurship. We need to unleash drivers of productivity growth to stimulate entrepreneurship – the imperatives of new business creation. For the Western region to stimulate innovation, substantial investment is needed in research and development (R&D), patenting and creative activities, and digital information. To successfully shift development frontier in the Western Region, states and local government must invest heavily on productivity enhancement, entrepreneurship development and technological building, diffusion and transfer.

    A possible revival of regional economic cooperation through intensification of trade, implementation of regional investment projects, could foster economic growth in the Western Region.  In fact, the compelling justifications to do so also offer some strategic policy actions. Key factors that foster regionalization and development could accelerate sustainable development are:

    (i)       Networking: The States in the region should prioritize networking on policies and strategies both at the technical and strategic levels. This facilitates sound development exchange through drawing on lessons and experience sharing among states issues of strategic focus. A good example is networking in revenue generation capacity for effective revenue diversification. This reduces the region susceptibility to vagaries and vicissitude of global oil process. Lagos and Ogun States stand out (Figure 2) for benchmarking. Lagos State is a leader in terms of capacity to generate domestic revenues (Figure 3). A regional approach provides opportunity for enhanced capacity among the collaborating states in the region is vital.

    (ii)     Geographic cohesion: The compactness and contiguity of the region geographic opportunities in terms of the regional comparative advantage that could be used to unleash growth and development. This is where regional infrastructure such as rail, road, electricity generation, and irrigation and telecommunication backbones is critical.

    (iii)    Institutional and policy change: Regionalization calls for policies, practices and process to be effectively harmonized. Contradictory policies and practices are centrifugal rather than propelling centripetal forces for concrete development actions. In vesting in sectoral and strategic policy harmonization is ineluctable.

    (iv)    Adoption of fiscal harmonization calls for a regional partnership: The contiguous nature of the region makes tax and revenue harmonization an imperative. Heterogeneous taxes promote tax evasion and tax avoidance. Without a fiscal harmonization, people and companies move from states with higher tax rates to lower ones thereby reducing the tax bases of the affected states. A harmonised tax policy will increase overall revenues of the collaborating entities.

    (v)      Economic diversification is an imperative. Relying on hands out from the federal allocation would merely deepen current deleterious dependency syndromes, with catastrophic effects. To decouple each state’s revenue from oil, economic diversification is critical. The starting point is for each state to identify its comparative advantage and use such as the anchor of economic diversification. The next stage, where Lagos is now, is to diversify from primary commodities to high-end value added and high-end services—activities whose consumption grows as income grows. Harnessing resources from economic diversification could outpace revenue from oil.

    (vi)    Establishment of growth poles and economic corridors. The south-western states must reflect on activities that propel economic corridors across the partnering entities. This could be in the form of free trade zones, dry ports, transport corridors, and agricultural settlements, among other factors.

    (vii)   Setting up regional business hubs across the geopolitical zones would also serve as a big booster for trade across the region. Such trade centres could be used to encourage entrepreneurship in each state and large scale firms in various state hosted there to attract greater market access. The hubs would also serve as a one stop business start-up centre hence, making it easier for investors to do business easily. Government and private sector should be committed to supporting business and industry development, helping new businesses to establish themselves, and assisting existing industries to grow and diversify. Building the institution for capital venture and integration between formal and informal sectors are equally vital.

    (viii)  Development of Critical Infrastructure: Available data from the State Houses of Assembly shows that Lagos and Ekiti states have maintained a steady increasing commitment to developing critical infrastructure since 2010. The trend in capital expenditure for Oyo and Ondo state follows a similar pattern that suggests learning from one each other and greater linkage. Average capital budget allocation from 2009 to 2013 for the South Western states shows that Lagos accounts for 41.1% of the total capital budget allocation in the region while Ekiti state has the least. Thus, greater integration across the six (6) states would provide greater cooperation in public financial management that would strengthen resilience in the SW region. This would help to grow their economy and deepen development in infrastructure.

    (ix)     Deep-seated institutional reengineering: There is a compelling need to restructure the machinery of government to realign the capital-overhead-personnel budget structure in a remodelling that is rooted in a deep role of government redefinition with strong sensitivity to mystery index. This would have implication for staff strength, wage bill, number of MDAs, number of Special Advisers/Assistants, scope of support to government functionaries, service delivery approaches that is much more aligned to PPP alternatives, waste reduction strategy that is linked to a new maintenance management policy and a new asset efficiency scheme around redefined guiding principles, gradual move from lifetime career-based to flexible employment policies that is rooted in performance management, productivity bargaining industrial relation practices and contractual obligations in service delivery, etc.

    (x)      Establishment of regional development fund: Absence of sustainable funding of regionalization often lead to collapse of such partnerships. This could be sourced from states and local government contributions, bond issuance, Diaspora Bond as was the case in Ethiopia and private sector funding via build-operate and transfer and any other form of equity financing.  The states should decide the strategic areas this fund should be allocated to.

    Conclusion

     What we are pushing here is not going to be a day’s job, and it is not going to be easy. It will take persistent political will and persistent commitment by succeeding governments to achieve. The experience of ensuring that the European Union and the Eurozone work as a buffer area that enables the member states to achieve regional strength in economic and political matters, is a very good example. It demonstrates the dogged attempt at making sure that the European member states stay together under one banner. It also demonstrates the immense benefits that accrue to each member state.

    The consolation is that the South-western states will not be starting from a historical scratch. They have the historical legacy of the Western Region as the framework around which to build a collective dream of prudent fiscal management, critical infrastructural development, rapid industrialization, strengthened service sector, an enviable regional business hub, and so on. All these constitute a veritable bulwark against future economic recession and global oil downturn and severe fluctuation in revenue allocation.

  • AIME advises Buhari to tackle insecurity for productivity

    A firm Global Media Communications Networks, AIME, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle the issue of insecurity in the country, adding that a peaceful environment will foster productivity and for life for the citizens.

    It said ensuring security will also create the enabling environment for productivity across the African continent, stressing that Nigerians must embrace peace among its ethnic groups in the country which will add value to economic growth.

    AIME is an African international company that works, answering the questions threatening peace and productivity through its laudable programs.   Its Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Emenogie Israel, said looking at the world today, peace is a social responsibility that should be guided by all men.

    “We see that this responsibility has failed by most people but we at AIME sees responsibility as a beauty to promote peace as a potential for social development in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. AIME is driven by passion to deliver on its commitment. Our people are dedicated to providing quality offerings, unparallel services and responsiveness. We are committed to working together with partners to deal with problems in an open and honest manner relating to conflict and ensuring stability of a global economy.

    “However, we are a major player in the industry as also very relevant in the African market, our consistency and our stylish research reporting had endeared eminent people trailing our pathway,” he said.

    Israel noted that that the rate of productivity is increasing at a faster rate in poorer countries than in richer ones. “This is what we have seen in East Asia over the past decades. In Africa this has not been the case. The continent is not catching up, due to three impediments to productivity growth: poor governance, poor education, and the highly restrictive nature of economic transactions in most African countries,” he said.

    He stated that poor governance and highly restrictive economic environments create a disincentive for the necessary investment to increase the number of high productivity jobs and workers. According to him, poor education also locks the workforce into a low level of productivity.

     

  • Olaopa and merit of National Productivity award

    Having watched Dr. Tunji Olaopa labour quietly in the trenches in the last decade without an expectation of being rewarded, I held back tears when a colleague gave me the news that President Muhammadu Buhari was going to confer on him the National Productivity Order of Merit Award (NPOM) for all that it is worth, at long last.

    Tunji Olaopa does not cut the picture of a classroom academic but very few scholars have influenced discourses on public administration and the general public space like he has done within the past two decades. I had a singular opportunity of reading over two dozens of his publications and can conveniently distil two themes in his intellectual adventure; namely, his treatise on public administration, and his intellectual interventions in public discourse and good governance in Nigeria. Evidently, Olaopa‘s seminal arguments on public administration are emanations from his doctoral thesis, his general experiences as a career civil servant and his stint with the bureau of public service reforms, an agency which he conceptualised in 2003 and which raison d’être was to provide technical backstopping to the re-engineering of  the nation’s public service.

    A cursory glance through his works reveals an uncanny passion for public service. These include dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles and monographs such as Public Administration And Civil Service Reforms In Nigeria (2008), Innovation And Best Practices In Public Sector Reforms (2009), Public Service Reforms In Africa (2010), Managing Complex Reforms: A Public Sector Perspective (2011) and the Nigerian Civil Service of the Future (2014) and The Joy of Learning, the life and times of Professor Ojetunji Aboyade.

    On the civil service, Olaopa traced the history of the Nigerian civil service to the colonial service which was in force during the early years of Nigeria‘s independence. A potpourri of indigenous officers and expatriates, the colonial model civil service was designed as a mere secretariat of government business, but the need to expand its scope and replace the expatriates with local workforce gave rise to series of reforms and challenges. According to Olaopa, the height of this disarticulation in the nation‘s service occurred during the almost four decades of military rule. The regimented mentality and the customary command-and-control style of the military severely rubbed off on the psyche and operations of the civil service. The noticeable manifestations of systemic weakness were over-expansion of the service, unification of erstwhile regional services, nepotism, corruption etc.

    The colonial model started well in Nigeria and flourished up to the early post- independence years when the system opted for the replacement of expatriates under the Nigerianization scheme.  Although the expatriates were known for dedication and professionalism and even inspired the pioneer Nigerians who took over from them, the service was to witness a steady decline in quality service delivery and professionalism especially from the middle of the 1970s due to unhealthy inter-service rivalries for managerial talent and spurious promotions.  The dynamics of manpower utilization which hitherto relied on planning, forecasting, budgeting and control broke down as even job designs, description and performance were determined by nepotism and other shady factors.  In fact, such critical condiments of the public service such as officer deployments, job classification grading and posting became manipulated by politicians and senior service officials. The practice was for some unscrupulous officials to attach an occupational classification to a staff just to get the staff graded far beyond his mates. The author opines that it was this “character of the state” that dampened the competence and efficiency of the public service.

    Every succeeding regime grappled with reforms to ensure the much-needed transformation of the Nigerian civil service from merely ‘administrative to managerial culture’ to ensure optimal productivity.

    He offered strategies to plug the yawning gaps that have short-circuited the reform trajectory of the civil service. These gaps include: policy gaps, capacity gaps, process gaps, performance gaps and resource gaps.

    The depth of his arguments reveals him as an expert-insider; his works interrogate the dynamics of the reform of the civil service in Nigeria and calibrate the very essentials that would reinvigorate this all important institution of the government which is plagued by corruption, disarticulation and systemic weakness.

    On his adventure in public discourse, Olaopa upped the scale above typical Nigerian public commentators; he is not an armchair critic, but a purveyor of facts and solutions. Various writers have appropriated social criticism as a vehicle to protest those elements of the society they feel ineffective, dysfunctional or corrupt. Areas such as bureaucracy voyeurism, big government, racism and human rights often take centre stage in such essays. In recent times, such writers captivate the reader with not only their lamentations on societal problems but take care to convincingly demonstrate solutions to such problems and attempt to refine the people’s feelings about the society in which they live. The mindset of social critics in Nigeria can be understood as they are irked that the country has potential for greatness if only things are done the right way. The expectations which drive such critics to protest can be captured in the lamentations of Chukwudifu Oputa when he submitted that “Nigeria is great in size, great in population, handsomely blessed and richly endowed by a kind and prodigal providence with almost unlimited natural resources. The challenge is for all of us to make her even greater than nature portend…but if, and only if we are disciplined”

    With the array of his research works, Olaopa‘s contribution to the pool of knowledge on public administration is not in doubt. No comprehensive research or reading can be achieved on the Nigerian public service without a footnote on him. It is intriguing that this feat was achieved by a supposedly busy permanent secretary in the nation‘s civil service. Winston Churchill once said in his famous epitaph on Joseph Chamberlain that one mark of a great man is the power of making lasting impressions on the people he meets. Another is to have handled matters during his life that the course of after-events is continually affected by what he did. Here, one is wont to see the portrait of Tunji Olaopa squarely in this description.

    It is these uncommon traits and his propensity to contribute more to the uplift of the Nigerian public service that inspired his recognition for the coveted National Productivity Order of Merit Award for 2015.

    Although this one comes as an addition to the numerous feathers in our subject’s cap, the person giving the award this time around is President Buhari – the no-nonsense, austere Nigerian leader who is credited with integrity and a focus on merit. He has been called by history to clean up Nigeria. The quintessential Buhari would not say well done unless one merits it. He is not known for frivolities. He must have noticed a man who combines excellent service with turnkey research output to re-engineer and strengthen the public service.

     

     

    • Dr Afaha is a lecturer in the Dept of History and Diplomatic Studies, UNIABUJA
  • ‘We need the right energy balance for productivity’

    ‘We need the right energy balance for productivity’

    Dr. Tayo Dairo, former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State listed energy and power, employment, security, education and health as preferred priorities.

    Dairo

    “The incoming administration, it is obvious, has so much to do. I will suggest that its focus should be on the basis of immediate-solution, short-term solution and long-term solution. If they attempt to do everything at the same time, they might run into troubles. It is better to take things one after the other.

    I believe there are critical areas that the administration must get right first. There are in the immediate- solution category. They cannot afford to wait because there must be instant results.

    The first thing is to focus on energy and power. This is very fundamental to the nation. You realise we don’t generate enough power and energy. There must be a marriage of the two to move the nation forward. We must generate enough power and get the right energy balance for productivity.

    The second area to focus on is employment. The mass unemployment in the land is a time-bomb. It can consume the nation if not tackled head-on. So, the Buhari’s government has to see how it can generate as many jobs as possible for people across the nation. The more jobs it produce, the better for all of us.

    Then, security is also critical. The insurgency challenge has become a national embarrassment. It has to be addressed as quickly as possible. Nigerians must feel secured again, even in the remotest parts of the country. Nothing must allow terror, armed robbery and breakdown of laws and order again in the nation.

    In the short-term and long term categories are issues like education, health and mass transportation. They don’t appear immediate but we have to also get them right. In the next two years or so, they would be discontent if they do not deliver on them. So, those ones too deserve attention as soon as the critical ones are addressed.

     

  • Govt restructures national productivity system

    Govt restructures national productivity system

    The Federal Government is set to restructure the country’s national productivity system in order to evaluate resources invested in the economy and ensure maximum performance and service delivery.

    The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Clement Iloh disclosed who spoke in Abuja at a workshop themed: “Implementing National Policy on Productivity and Basic productivity Improvement Techniques in Workplaces”, said the workshop was aimed at improving productivity in the country.

    He said measures were being put in place to develop and apply strategies for implementation of the national policy on productivity.

    According to Iloh,  productivity improvement tools and techniques are critical instruments for the realisation of government’s transformation agenda in innovation, excellence at work, global competiveness, products and quality services delivery. He expressed concern that for over  two decades the level of national productivity particularly labour productivity, has been on the decline.

    “Furthermore, government’s efforts at enhancing productivity have not yielded the desired impact due to low performance resulting from the low capacity of officers charged with responsibility to handle productivity improvement matters,” he said, urging participants to maximise the benefits of the workshop by acquiring knowledge, skill and competence on productivity measurement and improvement techniques for application in workplaces.

  • IPMAN chief harps on productivity

    The National President of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr Chinedu Okoronkwo,has appealed to  members to be committed to building a stable petroleum sector.

    Okoronkwo, who made the appeal in Lagos, advised members that  through such commitment the association would move the downstream sector forward and  avoid intra-organisation wrangling.

    He urged members to develop a sustainable model that would ensure uninterrupted fuel supply in distribution chain.

    He called on the government to develop fuel haulage by rail through fixing the railways.

    He also called on members to shun corruption and ensure steady distribution of petroleum products across Nigeria to prevent scarcity.

    Okoronkwo, who took over from Aminu Abdulkadir, promised that his leadership would be devoid of selfishness and pursuit of parochial interests adding that accountability and efficiency would be the watchword of his leadership.

    He expressed his readiness to  stop the incessant harassment and victimisation of IPMAN members in some of the association’s units and give priority to their welfare.

    Okoronkwo also commended the stability and growth in the petroleum sector during the tenure of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke.

    He said a monitoring team would be inaugurated to ensure conformity in all the IPMAN outlets nationwide.

    The IPMAN chief said the association is leading the campaign on use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as against kerosene and noted that many Nigerians had switched from the use of kerosene to gas.

    He assured that IPMAN would continue to work with Products and Pipeline Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in all the PPMC’s depots across the country to ensure seamless product supply to all nooks and crannies of the Nigeria.

    Okonkwo said IPMAN members control over 85 per cent of Nigeria’s petroleum product retail outlets, a development that makes the association a dominant player in the downstream market, he added.

    He also described the Nigerian Content Act as a major enabler for building indigenous capacities for the long term survival of the oil and gas industry.

    “Nigerian Content Act is another achievement that epitomises the depth of the minister’s patriotism. The step is to create opportunities for indigenous participation in the development of the nation’s oil and gas industry.

    “Nigerians require leaders with a clear idea of what is required to attract real development to the society,” he said.

    The IPMAN chief, however, condemned the activities of the pipeline vandals and crude oil thieves, saying the development has been a great challenge to optimising output from the nation’s refineries.

     

  • Building the right type of teams for productivity

    Teamwork is fast becoming the preferred practice in many organisations as traditional corporate hierarchies give way to flat, multi-skilled methods of working. There is no limit to the potential of a good team. If given a seemingly impossible task, team members will reinforce each other’s confidence as they seek to turn the task into reality.

    Michael Harrison, an author, publisher and business consultant, says the collective ability to innovate is stronger in a good team than that of individuals because the combined brainpower of a team, however small in number, exceeds that of any one person. By harnessing this power, a team can go beyond simple, useful improvements to achieve real breakthrough.

    Vague usage

    One word that is vaguely used in Nigeria, especially in the corporate environment is “Teamwork”. Having teams in place or engaging in teamwork without actually defining the type does not automatically guarantee organisational success. Effective teamwork is the foundation of all successful management and a true and effective team is a living, constantly changing, dynamic force in which a number of people come together to work. Team members discuss their objectives, assess ideas, make decisions and work towards their targets together under strong and effective leadership.

    Realising corporate goals

    Carole Sue Jones, a training and instructional design professional with a strong focus on management development says managers need to be able to build effective teams and relationships in order to accomplish business priorities and goals. In Jones’ words, “They define success in terms of the whole team’s performance and will allow people to be responsible for the work they do.” Such managers must balance that with the ability to provide the information their team members need to do to complete their tasks while helping them to feel good about the work that they do. Informing is a critical task in productivity and team-building.

    Ineffective teams

    Ineffective teams are either metaphorically not seen as teams or they are literally seen as purposeless teams just as a cowardly man can either be metaphorically referred to as a woman or literally called a fearful man. That is why Jim Clemmer, the bestselling author of “Pathways to Performance and The Leader’s Digest” says, “For all the big talk, matching T-shirts…, calling a group of people a team does not make it one. These groups are usually just a collection of individuals from the same department who meet periodically. Few of us have been lucky enough to participate in a strong, united team.” Clemmer adds that giving everyone a T-shirt may produce short-term warm and fuzzy feelings but it rarely leads to a powerful, united team unless root issues are addressed. An example of a root issue is chronic animosity between managers working with the team.

    Success factors and types of teams

    Preparing the ground rules and setting goals are just a few of the guidelines that can help your teams reach their goals such as improvement in productivity, process management, innovation, cost-effectiveness, etc. According to Kevin Eikenberry, a leadership expert, everyone thinks teams are a good thing. Leaders like to form teams. People, for the most part believe in the value and purpose of teams.

    Two types of teams have been identified. These are football/basketball teams; and track and field teams. Your organisation’s success depends on your choice out of these two types and how effective you are able to manage the right choice you have luckily made.

    First type and 2013 Fifa Under-17

    Football/basketball teams are teams that naturally require that everyone should play as a unit. Such teams naturally compel people to cooperate and remain committed in organisations because it is not possible to be successful alone as individuals. Despite parading really very young Under-17 team during the 2013 Fifa Under-17 World Cup at the United Arab Emirate last year, we were able to win the tournament because our players played cohesively as a team with a common goal.

    Second type

    Track-and-field teams constitute the second type of teams in organisations. Organisations need to avoid putting this type of teams in place because people will target individual success instead of being committed to effective teamwork. For instance, we lost in the final of the 2009 edition of Fifa Under-17 World Cup that we hosted because some players were pursuing individual agenda, trying to impress the football scouts and/or winning golden boots, etc. Track and field teams are unconsciously created in organisations when individual efforts are predominantly rewarded instead of team efforts. Then rivalry will start among staff instead of healthy competition among different teams in an organisation.

    Addition

    For example, we normally have Team Nigeria whenever we are going to the Olympics. The team will naturally be made up of sprinters, high jumpers, shot putters, distance runners, footballers, etc. Even though members or sub-teams are collectively known as Team Nigeria, they are not interdependent in their engagements when they get there as they target individual or sub-team success. This is because the shot putters can succeed without the high jumpers, sprinters or footballers. In track and field events, except in relay events, athletes are not interdependent. Though members of the football sub-team at the Olympics need each other to succeed, the football sub-team does not need other sub-teams to succeed because their set skills are different, even though all the sub-teams are Team Nigeria.

    Last words

    Success of any organisation depends greatly on effective teamwork. So organisations need to set priorities right and review them frequently; balance teams for strengths; give team members proper orientation as regards overall corporate goals, etc. To achieve results, encourage team performance in your firm and discourage personal reward. When there is a promise to reward players that score in a football match, we know they will no longer pass to each other very well, not even to a player that has clear chances to score.

     

    •GOKE ILESANMI, Managing Consultant/CEO of Gokmar Communication Consulting, is an International Platinum Columnist, Certified Public Speaker/MC, Communication Specialist, Motivational Speaker and Career Management Coach. He is also a Book Reviewer, Biographer and Editorial Consultant.

    Tel: 08055068773; 08187499425

    Email: gokeiles2010@gmail.com

    Website: www.gokeilesanmi.com

  • ‘How high-yielding seeds can boost productivity’

    ‘How high-yielding seeds can boost productivity’

    For farmers in rural areas, the use of high-yielding crop varieties holds the key to bountiful harvest. DANIEL ESSIET writes that unless urgent and deliberate efforts are made to encourage rural farmers to embrace the use of high-yielding varieties, hope of boosting the productivity and yield of rural farmers would remain a mirage. 

    Hajia Asabe Musa (not real name) is luckier than most farmers in the Northern part of the country. She heads a women farmers group in Bunkure Local Government Area of Kano State, a position that allows her access to tolerant varieties to help farmers in her group to overcome the negative effects of climate change in the region. The varieties, which are either early-maturing or drought-tolerant, have more than doubled her yield and those of farmers under her group. She has since been tapping into the opportunities presented by the use of improved seeds and agronomic practices to better her life. Other farmers in the state have also seen their yields double, using improved varieties and agronomic practices on the same plot of land.

    However, the beneficiaries are few. Most of the farmers have been witnessing crop failure in their farms in the north in particular and the country generally. This is because in most cases, the farmers do not have access to improved seeds, which makes their situation critical because of climate change and decreased rainfall. Experts attribute this largely to farmers’ lack of adoption of improved varieties, which is responsible for the low yields. Although, huge resources have been invested in breeding better crop varieties, the adoption rate of the improved varieties is still considered very low by agric experts.

    Addressing a workshop on ‘Seed Production Planning’ organised by West Africa Productivity Programme (WAAPP) Nigeria in Minna, its National Project Coordinator, Prof. Damian Chikwendu said production of high-yielding varieties of crops gives communities easy access to improved seeds. He said efforts are underway at a number of universities, institutes and organisations to make agriculture and farming practices more efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly. The ultimate goal, he said, is to increase crop yields, which will result in a greater quantity of food being produced per area of farm land.

    Chikwendu noted that as farmers get improved commercial opportunities for their crops and processed products, chances of accessing and purchasing improved seeds and other input increase. Sadly, however, he said the percentage of farmers with access to improved seeds in the country is about five per cent, compared to 25 per cent for East Africa and 60 per cent for Asia. This gives concern when agric machinery use is about 10 tractors /1000 hectares compared to 241/1000 hectares in Indonesia, for instance.

    By targeting small farmers, he said the programme intends to change the situation in line with the vision of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda aimed at achieving a hungry-free Nigeria through the agric sector. One approach the programme is taking, he said, is to get community-based seed producers move in to fill the gap. Through this means, the programme will help to increase the availability of improved and quality seed varieties to small scale farmers.

    It will also support the government to open seed markets to private enterprises. Last year, he said WAAPP-Nigeria inaugurated seven private seed firms to provide various quantities of certified maize, rice and sorghum seeds. The firms produced 432.5 Metric Tons (MT) of different improved varieties of maize seeds, 434 MT of various varieties of rice seeds, and 150 MT of improved varieties of sorghum seeds. Out of these, 150.986 MT of maize, 172.25 MT of rice and 15.603 MT of sorghum seeds have been distributed to some farmers in the adopted villages of National Agricultural Institutes (NARIs), universities and Federal Colleges of Agriculture (FCAs).

    WAAPP Nigeria has been funding National Cereals Research Institute (NCRI), Badeggi to produce improved rice breeder and foundational seeds; Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Ibadan, to produce maize breeder and foundational seeds; Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR), Zaria, to produce maize and sorgum breeder and foundational seeds. He said the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike is producing improved cassava stems and seed yams. Besides, WAAPP, he said, is working with some universities in seed multiplication. The seeds will be introduced by local extension agents to farmers through farmer-managed demonstration plots.

    The Deputy Director, Seeds, Katsina Agricultural Development Programme (ADP), Yusuf Abubakar, said improved varieties have become popular among farmers who are impressed by the performance of the improved seedlings hence, they accepted them. He said deployment of improved seeds, backed by the dissemination of innovative agricultural practices, have improved the lot of farmers. For instance, when the programme introduced improved maize, the farmers got over 15 bags for a quarter of an hectare.

    Abubakar said rebuilding rural supply networks and marketing systems is critical to encouraging farmers who have the means and incentives to produce more. The difficulties of transportation mean that out­lying areas are often not covered by private buyers, a problem faced by suppliers of fertilisers, seeds, and other farm inputs as well. For him, expanding private sector involvement in rural marketing and supply activities is a long-term solution.

    Programme Manager, Enugu State Agricultural Development Programme, Mr. Onyema Nwodo said the adoption of improved varieties by farmers has brought relief to those who face poor harvest. He said the fortunes of farmers have improved in terms of increased crop productivity as a result of using new maize varieties. So, an increase in yields can have effects on livelihoods. Nwodo said the challenge, however, is lack of proper storage drums to eliminate losses to weevils and vermin. He said the government needs to train groups to store their improved seed varieties. He noted that “seed production is a serious business, which needs proper planning to make good quality seeds available to farmers at affordable prices”.

    WAAPP is also working with scientists and agronomists to develop high yielding seeds that are also more nutritious and drought and climate resilient. The Head, Rice Research, NCRI, Dr. Myimaorga Abo, said the institute has achieved success in producing rice, soyabeans, beni-seeds and sesame seeds with higher yields. He said the institute is working with high-yield varieties that are suitable to the country’s climate.

    Abo added that the sector should apply science and technology to agricultural problems to get solutions quickly. For him, good seeds are not just the driving force behind good harvests to eliminate poverty and hunger, it’s the foundation for rapid economic growth. For farmers to improve their livelihoods and increase their income, he said the sector needs to ensure simple science such as improved seeds is available to people. “If we do not get our acts together, the continent will be left behind,” he warned.

    He said the programme has supported the development of new seed varieties and the commercialisation of over 200 firms. The challenge however, is how to address the gap between the released varieties and the commercialised ones.

    Niger State Governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu thanked WAAPP for hosting the meeting. Aliyu, who was represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim, said the state has 10 per cent of the arable land in the country, adding that it has water bodies that would add aqua culture. The governor stressed the need for mechanisation, saying that less than one per cent of fish farmers has access to facilities to dry their fish. He therefore, solicited the support of the private sector for the programme, saying that the state had allocated 50,000 hectares to Dangote Group to cultivate rice in the state. He assured WAAPP of government’s support to make the programme a success.

    The meeting was attended by chief executives of some Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs). Others are the Agricultural Research Institutes and the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN).

  • ‘Railways vital to agric productivity’

    A FORMER President of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture Mr Hyke Ochia has urged the Federal Government to develop the rail system, saying it will help improve agricultural productivity.

    He said improving rail infrastructure would assist food producers by ensuring that transportation costs remained competitive.

    He said the nation has both road and significant ocean freight advantage to service agro produce exports, adding that it’s critical that there is investment to keep the costs of other parts of the supply chain down, or we risk losing the advantage.

    He said under investment in railways was forcing more agro commodities to be transported to ports by trucks.

    He said rail productivity is lagging behind that of our competitors, stressing that it is adversely affecting agro-export. He said any investment in rail infrastructure will significant strengthen export capacity.

    He said rail cargo has its benefits, stating that there are procedures that must be worked out to make it cost-effective.

    He maintained that the government needs to support the rehabilitation and upgrade of rail tracks, buildings, workshops and other facilities to connect the main centres of economic activity to reduce the cost of exports.

    Also, the Director, Africa Region,Cassava Adding Value for Africa Dr Kola Adebayo said poor transport and infrastructure, such as roads, railways, warehouses, and handling equipment also increase costs for farmers.

    He said the lack of rails connection is not helping linkage with the main ports, adding that it was too expensive for farmers to transport agro commodities with the network not wide enough to connect farm locations.

    He said most roads are poorly maintained and often unpaved, thus resulting in considerable damage to goods in transit.

    Adebayo stressed the need for the government to upgrade and rehabilitate its rail transport infrastructure and to increase productivity in selected agriculture value chains.