KWENU: Our Culture, Our Future

Low productivity: Bane of Nigeria's economic quandary

ACHO ORABUCHI

Dallas, Texas

aorabuchi@netzero.net

Thursday, August 11, 2005

The two foremost important factors of production are capital and labor, with labor outlay overrunning the rest. Every country aims at achieving high productivity in every sector of its economy in order to sustain its economic viability.

Irving Mintzer in 1992 defined productivity as, “The output of any production process, per unit of input. To increase productivity means to produce more with less. In vegetation, productivity is the ability to produce life: to create carbon compounds from atmospheric carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. In factories and corporations, productivity is a measure of the ability to create goods and services from a given amount of labor, capital, materials, land, resources, knowledge, time, or any combination of those. Since capital goods tend to decline in value and wear out, most economists distinguish between gross capital productivity (total yield) and net capital productivity, which discounts depreciation.”

Looking at Nigeria, this piece attempts to raise some questions concerning goods and services produced by the government ministries, departments, and parastatals with a given amount of labor. Since labor cost takes up a chunk of total cost of running a corporation, particularly running the government; it is pertinent to alert the public about the inefficiency of labor utilization in government.

According to PUNCH on December 29, 2004, “The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has scored the performance of the industrial sector in the year 2004 low.  The acting Director-General of the association, Mr. Jide Mike, told our correspondent in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that the average industrial capacity utilisation in the year was 48 per cent.”

Sadly also, it was reported in the Champion Newspapers a few weeks ago that the new Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF), Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN) frowned at lazy workers in the ministry; he “warned that he would not hesitate to discipline indolent staff of the ministry.” Chief Bayo Ojo was quoted as saying, "The Department of Planning Research and Statistics must shake off its lethargy. The personnel, finance and other administrative departments or units must equally rise up to the demands of the moment."  "The legal drafters must produce flawless and admirable bills, the solicitors must deliver advice and consents promptly, the prosecutors must be patriotic, selfless and above board whilst the International Law Department must be abreast of latest developments in their field.”

Well, the presence of indolent staff is not limited to Chief Ojo’s ministry. Obviously, malingering among workers seems to permeate every facet of Nigerian public sector economy due to poor work attitude and, or unskilled workforce. This is in no way a blanket indictment on the entire workforce. However, one cannot go to any government office and receive services expeditiously.

Regrettably, the Federal Ministry of Finance reported in July 2004 that about seventy percent (70%) of its 1,560 workforce are unqualified for the job assigned to them. Unfortunately, this may just be a tip of the iceberg.

Still, according to an article published in NEWAGE on December 1, 2004, “The Head of Service of the federation, Alhaji Mahmood Yayale Ahmed has revealed that out of the 180,000 core civil servants, 60 per cent of them are unskilled workers, that is, from grade levels 1-6. ''The greatest problem is the unskilled manpower''. According to him, the radical reform in the civil service through the National Economic, Empowerment and Strategy (NEEDS) will be matched with skilled manpower.”

Pictures out of Niger pose a grim reminder of what my befall Nigeria if the country does not only manage its natural resources, but most importantly, revamp its human capital. Some people may not be aware of a press release of the USA Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), dated July 20, 2004, in which the Board of Directors of MCC identified Nigeria as one of the seventy poorest nations in the world to receive the “United States economic assistance under Part 1 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961” for the “Fiscal Year 2005”, as its per capita income appears to be “equal to or less than the historic ceiling of the International Development Association of $1465”. Invariably, level of productivity affects per capita income of a country.

Low productivity arising from malingering and unskilled labor impedes economic growth and fester poverty. In a situation where labor is not utilized efficiently, any catastrophic event would tip the country into the valley of perpetual poverty.

To stem low productivity in the public sector, the supervisors must not only model good behavior backed up with reasonable sanctions to deter unacceptable behavior, but also must be skilled and eschew nepotism. The supervisors must lead by examples while firmly focusing on merit, competence, and proficiency.

Also, the country needs to conduct a thorough study of the actual hours government employees work in a day, a week, and year out of total hours they are required to work. All government offices have to know how much time employees spend on the job description, which they are hired to perform. It is vital that the government employees perform the job for which they are hired to do instead of spending time on other things thereby robbing the masses of the benefits of government services.

Nigeria needs well-constructed and objective evaluation instrument to fairly evaluate the productivity of its workforce periodically with salary incentives. It needs adequate salary to discourage involvement of workers in other economic activities during their normal work hours.

The country has to invest in educating its citizenry. The educational curriculum would be geared toward providing the skills, knowledge, growth, and attitude crucial for competitive advantage in a global economy. Also, focus should always be on cutting edge technology. It is imperative that the workers are technologically literate. Consequently, the vitality of Nigeria largely depends upon a well-educated workforce.

Nigeria’s economy needs healthy workers too. Unhealthy population is inimical to both social and economic growth. Obviously, the quality of healthcare system is poor. It is incumbent on the policymakers to work feverishly to improve the healthcare sector of the country if the country plans for its workforce to be competitive in the global economy.

Low productivity emanating from unskilled workers and uncommitted attitude would impede a nation’s capacity to be competitive in a global economy. Nigeria has to enhance its labor efficiency to avert economic ruin. This is the time to judiciously invest the oil windfall for the collective benefit of the entire nation. Efficient delivery of services is paramount!

Well, there is a gleam of hope for Nigeria with a model developing in USA. The arrival of the new Ambassador of Federal Republic of Nigeria, H.E. Professor George A. Obiozor saw tremendous improvements in consular and embassy services to Nigerians and non-Nigerians. Impressively, the Nigerian Embassy and various Nigerian Consulate staff members are now efficient in the delivery of services, thanks to Prof. Obiozor, who worked hard to streamline the bureaucratic processes that had inundated the offices in the past. The Nigerian Embassy is now customer-friendly.