Average Nigerian Loses 325,092 Yearly- NPC

An average Nigerian loses about N325,092 yearly due to low level of productivity in the country.

The Director, Productivity Measurement and Statistics, National Productivity Centre, (NPC), Abuja Alhaji Jubril Yelwa gave this revelation while delivering his paper titled, “Computing Productivity in the Nigerian Economy: Issues and Challenges.”

He said that it was unfortunate that achieved productivity of an average Nigerian was N430, 560 as against the expected N782, 652 annually as he puts the target productivity level at N838,720.

Yelwa while speaking during the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan, the Oyo state capital monthly lecture series for May 2015 on Tuesday argued that “By normal distribution, 60 percent of total population was supposed to be expected working population and the expected productivity level would have been $5,017/head or N782,652/head in naira term, the difference (gap) was $2,610/head or 352,092/head”

He said for Nigeria to overcome the problem of low productivity, all Nigerians must be ready to double their productivity performance like in other countries such as Ghana, United State of America (USA), China, South Africa, Germany, Japan, France and Thailand among others.

Yelwa also identified absence of current productivity data, poor data record keeping culture in Nigeria, weak financial base, weak staff capability due to lack of appropriate training and re-training as some of the major causes of low productivity in the country.

He also included erratic power supply, over-employment most especially in the public service and unemployment as problems militating against the expected level of productivity which has put the country as one of the nations with low Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Yelwa however declared that the centre has device measures in measuring productivity data in the country just as he urged the incoming government at the federal to put both the human and material resources in increasing the level of productivity in the country so as to meet the target of being the 20th economy in the world.

Giving the productivity gap in Nigeria, Yelwa posited that “Productivity gap based on expectation? $2,257= N352,092, Productivity gap based on set target? $2,610 which is N407,160, all figures per individual in total population”

Yelwa declared that for Nigeria to be the 20th economy by 2020, “Each Nigerian should double his or her efforts to contribute to Gross Domestic Product in order to reach expected level of productivity”

“On the target of being the 20th economy nation in the world, if Thailand was the 20th economy nation in the world and their productivity level was $5,370/head and that of Nigeria was $2,760/head then the difference on the gap was $2,610/head in 2013”, for Nigeria to displace Thailand, Yelwa declared that “every Nigerian has to double his or her productivity from $2,760 to $5,370.”

The Director-General of the institute, Professor Olufemi Taiwo while speaking noted that demand for improved standard of living was one of the rationales for chosen the topic.

According to him, “We live in competitive world, there are demands for improved standard of living, the yearning of Nigerians is larger than the way they were before in 60s and 70s, so we need high level of investment especially in human capital, infrastructure, and energy and so on.

“Even if you have all those infrastructure, if you don’t make use of them, the productivity will low, that is why we need to work on productivity, on efficiency, issues that can add value for money to invest on, this topic is actually important for developing countries especially Nigeria.”