BY ABUBAKAR YUSUF
Dr Nasirdeen Olaitan Raji- Mustapha was appointed the Director General, National Productivity Centre NPC by the federal government on May 18th, 2023, after the expiration of the tenure of the immediate past Director General, Dr Kashim Akor, (NPOM), who held sway for two consecutive term.
Raji, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), joined the services of the National Productivity Centre NPC many decades ago, and grew through the system with versed knowledge and experience, that saw him becoming a Director in the department of procurement for many years, before his elevation to the top notch of the agency.
His assumption of duty as the Director General, National Productivity Centre NPC coincided with the time the new administration of Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was preparing to take over the mantle of leadership of the country , after the landslide victory at the general elections held in March, 2023.
With the mantle of leadership entrusted in him at the NPC, Dr Nasir Raji Mustapha created an enabling environment along with other departments and agencies of government for the smooth transition from the outgoing administration to the new one, particularly on the issue that boardered on performance and productivity across all strata.
Without delay , he embarked on the decorations on behalf of the federal government prominent and notable Nigerians who had distinguished themselves both from the private and public sector confered with the National Productivity Merit Award (NPOM) for 2023, that took many weeks, and proceeded on international engagement at the International Labour Organization (ILO), in Geneva.
The new NPC Director General interfaced with the office of the Head of Service of the Federation (HOSF), Yemi Esan on the way forward and advocated the introduction of Performance Management System (PMS) in the service that became a guide to the new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The new leadership in NPC threw more light that led to the signing of Performance Bond (PM) by the federal government and the newly appointed Ministers, and top government officials.
He set the ball rolling as it became a norm and order of the day as performance and productivity became a national discourse, to enable the new administration settle down and consolidate on it’s Renewed Hope Agenda that will galvanize the new leadership.
Since , charity begins at home, Dr Nasir Raji embarked on wholistic training and retraining/capacity building of the workforce to prepare them for the new challenges both internally and nationally particularly on “Productivity, Tools and Techniques” that trickled down all strata of public and private sector, through workshops, seminars, symposiums, talk shops among many others and visitations to various organizations.
The new development in National Productivity Centre NPC enabled the staff access to producing more quality reports , imbibe corporate governance among online reorientation across the agency.
Through, the productivity officers and experts , he deepened the need to adopt the new parlance of “pay as you work” along with the understanding of the labour bodies to drive genuinely performance /productivity in all sectors of the economy.
He provided aside the enabling environment, working tools by acquiring new vehicles both for logistics and office use in some state offices, that expanded the scope of job execution of staff of the agency, including staff welfare.
He introduced Corporate Enhancement Programme (CEP), that will serve as a culture and official conduct of the staffers of the agency, in the course of carrying out it’s official engagement.
With the new working culture, there is no doubt that efficiency, to deliver on the required learning and teaching both in the private and public sector on the need to imbibe productivity has systemically been inculcated.
Dr Nasirdeen Olaitan Raji- Mustapha expanded the scope of coverage of the agency through constant training and retraining of staff of Ministries, Departments and Agencies on the need to consolidate performance/productivity in their various activities.
In it’s efforts to catch them young, the new leadership in NPC had reinvigorated visitations to schools across the country, to reorient and reinvigorate students on productivity and national development, deploying it’s productivity techniques and tools.
Within one year in office , the new leadership of NPC has engaged in partnership with both corporate bodies, individuals and both national and international organizations, as well as collaboration with Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government.
Aside statutory mandate, the National Productivity Centre NPC under the leadership of Dr Raji had expanded the scope of procurement in the agency, through synergy with the federal lawmakers to deliver their constituency projects to various communities across the country, as there is no doubt, the agency had become a beehive of activities.
Dr Nasir Raji leadership in the course of governance, encourage productivity across all spheres also proposed the introduction of productivity link wage system (PLWS), were workers on the same level and grade will be remunerated based on performance across all areas , away from the current system.
The new NPC also organized the 5th National Productivity Summit with it’s theme “Leveraging on Science, Technology and Innovation”, to move the country forward.
The program held at the NAF conference centre, Abuja, between the 14th and 15th, May , 2023 attracted the Nigeria’s Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Ojo and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Rt Honorable Nkeiruka Chidubem Onyejeocha, Chairman , Senate Committee on Labour and Employment, Senate Diket Plang and the House of Representatives counterpart, Mr Adefarati among many others were all presented papers and positions to move productivity forward leveraging on the new digital order.
Under the leadership of Dr Nasirdeen Olaitan Raji- Mustapha, there is no doubt that the quest for robust productivity across all sectors of the Nigeria economy, resolution of lingering wages or workers, training and retraining along capacity building across private and public sector will be tackled headlong, deploying Science, Technology and Innovation across board.
No doubt and going forward, the leadership in NPC is prepared to pilot the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to success and fruition across all areas.
ABUBAKAR YUSUF Writes from Abuja on yus.abubakar3@gmail.com.
