Chidi Opara
Owerri – An industrial expert, Mr Godson Osueke, has advised the Federal Government to design and formulate an appropriate policy for the development and promotion of indigenous technological capacity.
Osueke, who is the National Chairman (Industrial Division) of Nigerian Society of Engineers, made the call at the National Productivity Day Symposium organised by the National Productivity Centre (NPC) in Owerri on Tuesday.
The symposium had the theme: “Productivity for Economic Recovery and Sustainable Growth.”
Osueke, also a Senior Lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Federal University of Technology (FUTO), Owerri, said that there was also the need for the adoption and customization of imported technology for the local market.
He said that China’s experience in rapid industrial and technological development could also provide valuable lessons for Nigeria.
“Improvement in management of technological development capabilities in Nigeria has been for long time the centre of policy concern.
“The policy and decision makers in Nigeria industrial sectors have been well aware that the key to long term economic growth and technology progress lie in designing and implementing effective national technological development policy,” he said.
According to Osueke, Nigeria with her high dependence on oil revenues, should emphasis more on the expansion of non-oil exports through greater emphasis on export promotion policy.
He said there was also the need for the country to institute productivity policies that would make it mandatory for corporate bodies to have productivity measurement and improvement schemes.
He said a reward system could equally be put in place to encourage those who consistently improved productivity.
“The future of any nation does not only depend on the vast natural resources it possesses, but the specialization engineering skills, competence and the ability of its inhabitants to exploit these resources,” Osueke said.
Prof. Agnes Onyeagba, the Chairman of the occasion and Director of IITUCF Foundation, identified security, power and productivity as the key issues in economic recovery of any nation.
She said there was the need to beef up the remuneration of security workers and improve power generation in the country.
“There should be productivity exchange programmes with international organizations, better pay package, training and retraining for the workers, while the country should engage in bilateral trade with other countries,” Onyeagba said.
Earlier in her welcome address, the Zonal Coordinator, National Productivity Centre, Owerri, Mrs Ngozi Ugada, had said that productivity was vital to the survival of any nation that desired to attain and sustain significant economic growth and self reliance.
She said it was only through increased productivity in the economy that standard of living of the generality of the people could be achieved.
Ugada said that in the past, recognition of individuals and organizations who had done well had led to some positive behaviour and attitudinal changes in workers and higher productivity.
She said the theme of this year’s productivity day was timely and apt.
Ugada said that “articulated productivity movement and inculcation of productivity practices are the only avenues for laying the foundation for wealth creation, economic growth and sustainability.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the symposium was attended by heads of federal ministries and parastatal agencies from the zone. (NAN)