Following the rejection of the 25% minimum wage increase by the the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC last month from the Federal Government, the federal government has revealed instead, it will commence workers’ productivity audit from the Ministry of Interior to determine workers wage instead. Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made this known yesterday in Abuja when he spoke at the fifth National Productivity Summit, saying there was need to improve the low productivity level in the country, especially within the civil service.
This is coming on the heels of the federal government’s announcement that the formulation of an innovative wage system would henceforth be based on employee’s productivity in the civil service was underway, after the NLC rejected the proposed 25% wage increase by the federal government.
Ojo had with immediate effect charged the Director General of the National Productivity Centre, Dr Nasir Raji-Mustapha, to set up a mechanism that will commence the productivity audit and gap analysis as soon as possible for workers in the agencies under his watch.
He, however, chided the centre for not “doing anything or enough” regarding its mandate and constitutional duties, stressing that the organisation was yet to attain 10 per cent of its potential to make business operations and workforce productive.
Tunji-Ojo, who highlighted the importance of technology in boosting productivity, explained how his ministry was able to clear 204,000 international passports backlog using automated processes when he came on board in 2023.
He said, “We brought in what I call the hybrid approach. What is the hybrid approach? For you to be efficient, for you to be productive, you have to use a combination of technology and human factors.
“If you develop the human factor and you neglect the technology, you will keep moving around the vicious circle. And if you bring in the technology without a motivated workforce, technology will not work.
“So, motivating your workforce and, of course, bringing in innovation and technology needed to automate the process will give you a higher yield and a higher return on investment.”