By Isaac Aimurie and Henry Oqua
The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has expressed disaffection over the ceaseless rhetoric about productivity in the country, the attendant job losses and increasing capital flight through medical and educational tourism as well as low productivity levels which are putting pressure on the economy.
Obaseki who decried the trend on Thursday, June 9, 2022, in Government House, Benin City, while inaugurating the Edo State Productivity Committee, noted that “it is not sustainable, without forex we cannot do anything, we are losing jobs to other countries because we are not productive, we have not been able to add value to what we have. Our future is very bleak; much of our consumption is imported.”
He charged the committee, which is headed by Joel Edionwe, to build on the progress that his administration has recorded in ensuring that quality service is delivered to Edo people by all stakeholders.
Obaseki said: “In Edo State, we knew this right from the beginning of this administration which is why we have to make government services efficient and for the people to see the value the government is creating. We must utilize our resources and ensure people deliver value to the society and state.
“We have started in Edo State to reposition our public service to deliver quality services to the people. We attracted people into the service, rewarding hard work and tracking productivity, thereby ensuring we get value. We train people, create the enabling environment and ensure they deliver services.
“We operate an e-governance platform to track what people are doing, raising the level of transparency. We have an academy where we continuously train our civil servants and would like to partner the National Productivity Center (NPC) to achieve this great feat.”
He further said that his administration’s focus is on “how we can make our institutions, country and society to deliver value to our people and stop us from looking outside to satisfy ourselves.”
He dismissed opinions in some quarters that the government should participate directly in business-oriented ventures and emphasized: “The role of the government is to enable production to happen in the larger society. Government is to create an enabling environment for its citizens to produce and live a fulfilled life. Our role is to create the environment and provide the amenities for people to produce effectively and efficiently.”
“The government in offering services must be at its apex in terms of productivity, knowing that the money we spend is taxpayers’ money and have to show value to the people in managing the state.”
“If we are a productive society, we will create more jobs but our experience today is that we are losing jobs to other countries. We think it’s cheaper to bring people from other countries but we have to change our system and ensure we begin to produce.”
He further said that the State government is “rethinking the education system away from just certificates, to production.”
According to him, “Success has to be defined as someone who can produce something of value to society and not just a certificate.”
Explaining the rationale for the committee, the Director General of National Productivity Council (NPC), Dr. Kashim Akor, who was represented by Abdullahi Hassan, said: “Edo State Productivity Committee was set up to assist and complement government’s efforts as it relates to enhancing productivity and economic development in the State.”
“Members of the committee are drawn from private and public sectors in order to achieve the set goals like stimulating productivity consciousness through productivity awareness campaigns in Ministries, Department and Agencies; productivity coaching and mentoring in schools, and measuring productivity trends in public and private sectors.”
The Committee is made up of representatives of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), organized labor, the Media, the police, amongst others.
