The President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian Institute of Production Management-NIPM, Dr Olaniyi Opanuga has called for professional education, training and development of production and operations managers in the country to prevent mediocrity, loss of ethical values and promote productivity and quality in organizations.

Opanuga, in his remarks at a training programme for production managers in Lagos said organizations, whether in manufacturing, construction, agricultural, energy, oil and gas, mining or service industries need production and operations managers who have professional production and operations management qualifications to take their standards to the next level in anticipation of the work of the future.

“The government agencies responsible for standards such as the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) and National Agency for Food, Drug Administration And Control (NAFDAC) need not go far to bring the manufacturers of fake, adulterated, unwholesome, counterfeit  and substandard products to justice. All they need to do is to ask organizations to provide the NIPM certification or Membership qualification of their CEOs or key senior staff in operations. The reason is simple: fake and bad manufacturers lack sense of integrity, real strategic orientation and moral ideals hence, they do not employ professional production and operations managers. They generate by a weak model of profit stratagem. They employ mediocres, quacks and cheap labour who will be at their beck and call; those who lack the professional education, training and ethical understanding in production and operations management” he averred.

“Given the emerging technologies and their sweeping and disruptive nature, the future of work calls for adequate professional development of production and operations managers whose job it is to use these technologies in  combination with other resources to create competitive and profitable products and services” he added.

Dr Opanuga advised those who wish to pursue a careers in production and operations management in the country to register with the Institute and acquire necessary professional qualifications. He explained that the Nigerian Institute of Production Management (NIPM) is the only professional body registered by the Federal Government to promote, advance and regulate the practice of production and operations management in the country.