The federal government has hinted that it will commence workers’ productivity audit from the Ministry of Interior. The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who dropped the hint in Abuja on Tuesday when he spoke at the fifth National Productivity Summit, said there was a need to improve the low productivity level in the country, especially within the civil service.
Daily Trust reports that the disclosure was coming on the heels of the federal government’s announcement that the formulation of an innovative wage system that would be based on employee’s productivity in the civil service was underway.
Tunji-Ojo charged the Director General of the National Productivity Centre, Dr Nasir Raji-Mustapha, to deploy his staff to commence the productivity audit and gap analysis as soon as possible for workers in the agencies under his watch.
The minister, 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.
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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.”