Dr Adebimpe Juliet Aor, President and Chief Executive Officer, House of Noir, is a productivity management consultant and one of the few 5S Kaizen experts in Africa, having over 40 years post-qualification experience as a lecturer, facilitator and team consultant with the European Union projects and UNIDO National Quality Infrastructural Project in Nigeria. In this interview with YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE, she speaks on waste management in Nigeria, boosting productivity, expectations from government and women in politics among, other issues.
What exactly do you do as a productivity consultant?
We simply find solutions to the challenges presented in today’s modern world; we ensure the steady development of any individual, company institution, government and economy using cutting-edge productivity and quality improvement strategies as well as tools and techniques because we believe that there is always room for improvement; and also because productivity improvement and the quality of goods and services are very critical in national development and competitiveness. Our purpose is to help 80 percent of African governments as well as companies and institutions that have challenges with workers or getting workers to embrace a mindset and culture of continuous productivity and quality improvement.
How long have you been in this line of work?
I have been doing this for about 30 years
Will you say it is a gender friendly profession?
Yes, it is.
How acceptable is productivity management in Nigeria
It is relatively new and still ambiguous to many people, therefore, acceptability is varied, depending on the understanding of the people. While some are receptive, some others are indifferent but this is normal.
What is your assessment of waste management in Nigeria?
I will say it is indeed poor. On a scale of one to 10, I would give us a two out of 10. This is because when we are talking about waste, there are different kinds of waste; waste of time, resources, energy, materials, space, talents etc. there is a lot of wastes which we don’t know how to manage and this can be attributed to ignorance and wrong mindset, costing Nigeria a lot.
What roles do individuals and government have to play to improve the waste management process?
We simply need to be open minded and embrace new ways of doing things; we need training and government needs to be more proactive on this. There is the need to engage experts on waste management, how to manage, minimise and possibly eliminate waste. This is where the Home of Noir quality and productivity Ltd comes in; we have the requisite technical expertise, tools and techniques to address the problem of waste and waste management.
There is a belief that productivity among workers, especially in the public sector is at low ebb, do you believe this?
Ohhh yes! That is a fact and a lot of factors can be attributed to this. There are factors such as lack of motivation, negative attitude, poor mind set, ignorance as well as people being in public service as an alternative to joblessness, apathy and nepotism, among others
How can quality of service be improved in the Nigerian society?
I believe the starting point is for us to be deliberate and intentional as a people in addressing the issue of quality, because ‘people are as prosperous as the quality of their goods and services.’ There is just no alternative to quality. Providers of services need to engage quality experts to aid them in developing the necessary skills and technical know-how to improve the quality of their services.
What are your thoughts about women in politics?
Competent women should engage in politics because they have the requisite leadership skills and qualities to contribute to national development. Being a woman does not diminish intellectual capability and strength. In fact, the society needs more contributions from women’s perspective on the expectations of society and how politics can address these expectations.
Do you think there’s restriction on women in the professional circle in Nigeria?
Not really. However, a woman may have to work twice as hard as her male counterparts to prove her worth before she is accorded her rightful place.
What are your thoughts on women having streams of income?
It is a welcome development, particularly in today’s economy worldwide where one income is not sufficient and cannot sustain any meaningful standard of living.
Can women be good leaders?
Absolutely, women have been in leadership positions and have performed exceptionally; for example, Professor Bolanle Awe, Professor Grace Alele-Williams, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the late Professor Dora Akunyuli, to mention but a few.
What are your expectations from government toward boosting productivity in Nigeria?
The first step is for Nigeria to take the bull by the horns like what the Asian tigers of today; Japan, Singapore and Malaysia did; where government engaged the private sectors to start and drive a productivity movement through training, consultancy as well as research and policy formulation. The result was a complete departure from a dwindling economy to a striving metropolis and the Home of Noir Quality and Productivity Limited can assist the Nigerian government at all the levels and tiers of government to achieve this.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then