The federal government says it is currently developing a new wage system for the civil service that will be tied to employee productivity, allowing workers at the same level to potentially earn varying salaries.

The Director-General of the National Productivity Centre (NPC), Dr. Nasir Raji-Mustapha, disclosed this on Monday, while briefing journalists at the organisation’s  headquarters in Abuja.

 
Raji-Mustapha said that the NPC has already gotten the buy-in of the organised labour to develop and deploy the new system.

He said, “We are in the process of developing a productivity-led wage system that will ensure that those who are productive are rewarded for their efforts irrespective of their grade level. Under the proposed system, employees on the same salary scale can earn different wages.

“Labour as a critical stakeholder is being carried along in this exercise. As researchers, we don’t just do things without considering the recipient of the reports.

 

“When we started the project about three or four years ago, we held stakeholders’ forum which the labour unions participated in. We even went further to send a memo to Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), to ask them whether they will support the proposed wage system and they said they will welcome it.”

The DG said that the report for the first phase of the study was ready, adding that the next stage will be to engage various stakeholders to consider and make input before finally presenting it to the federal government for its consideration and possible adoption.

The NPC boss also said that the Centre is working with some  international agencies and organisations to improve the productivity level and skills of Nigerian workers to boost the nation’s economy.

He stated specifically that NPC has widened its scope of collaboration between it and international agencies such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JACA), Africa Productivity Association and Asia Productivity Association.

He further highlighted what the Centre was doing in the area of promoting productivity among young people, especially amongst members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

Raji-Mustapha also disclosed that Vice President, Kashim Shettima, would be the keynote speaker  at the two-day national productivity summit organised by the NPC which would start today in Abuja.

“The summit is very important because in today’s rapidly evolving global landscape, you will agree with me that there is need for increased productivity. We must harness the power of science, technology and innovation and to use them to optimize the resources in the country and the VP is the keynote speaker,” he added.