The target audience is Nigerian government at all levels

1. 2. PRPOSED SOLUTION WHICH CAN CONVEY HOW NATURE OF WORK IS
CHANGING AND WHAT NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT CAN DO (GOVERNMENT’S
IMPERATIVES) TO PREPARE & SUPPORT ITS WORKFORCES
Human Capital Development especially investment ih basic healthcare and education will
help in maximizing the potentials of citizens of Nigeria by opening up new horizons of equal
opportunities in the DIGITAL ECONOMY (GIG ECONOMY). For instance, the springing
of Start-ups and fintechs has witnessed tremendous disruptions to existing traditional
methods of doing business in Nigeria. From telecom giants like MTN, Globacom, Airtel,
9Mobile, etc. to manufacturing giants like Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN), Innoson
Motors etc. to design and construction giants like Julius Berger, B.Stabilini, Gitto
Construozini, Dantata & Sawoe, Design and Build (D & B) Ltd, China Civil Engineering and
Construction Company (CCECC), among many others that automate their activities using
Lean Manufacturing (Just-in-0time, JIT) in delivering projects, down to agricultural /food
processing giants like NASC Foods, Dansa Foods and Nutriset, Chivita, etc. to retail outlets
that in turn uses digital technology to market products and or services of the companies like
Jumia, Konga, to airline companies that makes ticketing and booking easier with their mobile
apps and finally the digital payment methods like Payeasy, remita, etc. This is Digital
Technology and without investment in Human Capital, opportunities, jobs, etc. created by the
technology will keep slipping away and taken over by others outside the country, even.
Besides, Human Capital Development will help citizens survive in the disruptive world of
future of work by enabling them to acquire or learn key soft skills such as critical thinking,
emotional intelligence, empathy, problem solving, smart decision making, design thinking,
communication, teamwork, etc. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a success criteria as a soft
skill in modern day workplace interactions as soft skills are the certainties of the FUTURE
OF WORK (FOW) due to the fact that hard skills are replaced with and by automation in
corporate entities and organizations.
However, for Nigeria to survive, scale and benefit in the digital economy with emerging
disruptions, it has no option than to invest in human capital development measured by the
World Bank standard of the Human Capital Index (HDI). That singular act will provide will
prepare the citizens for disruptions in the workplaces in both formal and informal sectors of
its economy. The Human Capital Development will require massive investment by
government in basic healthcare that is easy accessible and affordable & basic qualitative
education. In the short run, the health, well-being and survival of the citizens as children is
then guaranteed, coupled with the basic ability to read and write, the citizens can learn skills,
socio-emotional skills and high order cognitive skills that will ensure their relevance as adults
in the disruptive world of future of work.
As we are already in the Age of Learn to Learn, the issue of lifelong learning has to be
inculcated in the Nigerian citizens by the government and concerned authorities of local and
state governments as well in order to take advantages inherent in lifelong learning, reskilling,
retooling and up skilling for continuous process improvements, change management etc. in
the workplaces. The adoption of the concept of Learning Adjusted Years of Schooling
(LAYS) using the global database of Harmonized Learning Outcomes readily comes to mind
here especially for the teeming workers in the Nigerian informal sector which will facilitates
innovation.

2. Moreover, I suggest NUTRITION as the first Human Capital Development as a priority
second to basic, compulsory education. The burning issues of malnutrition, maternal and cild
mortality, morbidity rate, mother-child diseases transmission, etc. are basic challenges in
Nigeria with respect to basic healthcare. Programmes such wild polio immunization, safe
motherhood, prevention of maternal and child mortality, child spacing/family planning,
adequate ante-natal, neo-natal and post-natal care, etc. can go a long way in ameliorating the
present conditions and minimizing future occurrences of the problems by ensuring healthy
children. Besides, it is only when a child eats nutritionally balanced food that his health &
survival are guaranteed, his intellect develops, his well-being secured then the Nigerian
Government can invest further in literacy (basic education). When a child learns, he develops
skills that are sure banker to getting jobs and opportunities when he grows up which will in
turn determine his earnings/incomes. When earnings are guaranteed/secured, it means
poverty and joblessness is fought tooth and nail. Hence, I see this relationship in a triangular
form whereby the survival, health and well-being of a child, his literacy (basic education)
level, lifelong learning goals and higher earnings are dependent variables that affects one
another in one way or the other. In essence, nutrition, child survival, wellbeing and health,
cognitive and psychomotor skills development, early child care development, basic education
and lifelong learning are the key ingredients to achieving a high on the Human Capital Index
(HCI). In medical practice broadband networks facilitate electronic exchange of information
such as data, images and video. Telemedicine, tele-therapy and advanced diagnostics are just
a few of the capabilities made possible by broadband for the benefit of modern medical
practice. In Nigeria, government has been saving lives lately, starting from when it empowered the
citizenry with a mobile healthcare platform that uses SMS to verify fake drugs or the authenticity of
their origins. Government can build on this by setting up a citizen broadcast platform that enables
users to send in images of suspected fake drugs packaging, drug peddlers and illegal manufacturing
plants etc. Electronic records of a patient’s health history including patient demographics,
diagnosis, medications, progress notes, vital signs, medical history, immunizations,
laboratory data and radiology reports can be gathered and stored for easy and fast access.
Nevertheless, another solution I foresee to the ever-changing nature of work in Nigeria is for
the government to embrace and improve where it has done so, e-governance and the adoption
of new and emerging technologies that comes with the digital economy. The Federal
Government of Nigeria MUST focus on technology transfer from advanced economies by the
introduction/upgrading of new technologies that will massively and aggressively increase the
income of an average farmer as the government aimed at achieving FOOD SECURITY via
its BACK TO FARM policy initiative. This can be done by scaling up the digital revolution
in the agricultural sector, a sector that to date, employs majority of the population. This the
government can achieve by facilitating innovation, encouraging and improving digital
literacy and inclusion, which I see as a GAME CHANGER. For instance, the use of mobile
app to track the rainy season, which informs the average farmer when to plant, conduct spray
for insects and worms, harvest, store, process, market his farm produce based on prevailing
weather and market conditions, etc. gives opportunity for higher yields and return on
investment (ROI). Also, the use of drones to irrigate vast farmlands, the use of Snappi mobile
app to identify the name of a weed by snapping its leaves, and the use of mobile apps to
monitor post-harvest losses and how to minimize such losses, the use of Quickbooks mobile
app to carry out profit and loss analysis instantly. Also, the use of pre-plant herbicides to get
rid of herbs and shrubs that causes plants stunted growth and yellow leaves, as well as the use
of state-of-the-art mechanized tools, equipment and plant has gone far in ensuring food
security and sustaining commercial agricultural outputs in some countries, as such Nigeria
can replicate and domesticate that. With digital literacy and inclusion, the provision of

3. broadband technologies, the affordability of smart phones and devices, the income of the
average Nigerian farmer can be greatly improved, especially if the farmer in question can
learn on the go and run for short courses offered by edX relevant to his occupation, as a
means of lifelong learning.
With the uptake and growth in internet technology demand & usage in developing countries
like Nigeria in recent years, there is an urgent need for skilled manpower for utilization,
development, operation and maintenance of the sophisticated networking procedures &
networks. Currently, there is a greater demand for speedy network with which undertaking
different life activities ranging from entertainment, shopping, educational pursuit, improved
agricultural knowledge, etc. would be done with much ease and within the shortest time
frame. Hence, the need for broadband in this respect can’t be deemphasized for faster speeds,
lower prices and improved quality service delivery & has the potential of enabling entire new
industries and introducing significant efficiencies into education delivery, health care
provision, energy management, ensuring public safety, government/citizen interaction, and
the overall organization and dissemination of knowledge and for the government to facilitate
demand through the funding of initiatives in ICT adoption, e-government and e-commerce in order to
create local content and jobs thus preparing the citizens for disruption.
In addition to that, the government of Nigeria can and should encourage informal businesses
to formalize their operations and activities by raising the business operators awareness on the
benefits of registering their businesses with relevant government agencies like the Corporate
Affairs Commission (CAC) which will in turn maximize the government’s revenue that was
hitherto lost due to non-registration of many informal, small businesses. This can be done by
granting registration waiver and devising an aggressive strategy of massive free or subsidized
registration for such informal, usually small businesses. Secondly, it can be done by
providing platforms whereby such businesses and their owners are recognized by the
government of Nigeria and given due attention and necessary support to grow as they provide
jobs. Other e-government aspects involves how governments have been leveraging
broadband to experiment with new ideas and technologies to extend opportunities for
engagement with citizens. Some government agencies now make their services available 24
hours a day, all year round while eliminating excessive paperwork. The worldwide trend to
shift democratic processes online is premised on the fact that transparency and accountability
are usually enhanced when citizens have broadband connections and therefore have equal
access to information for decision making resulting in good and accountable governance.
Traditionally, the delivery of government service in Nigeria has been hindered by the
complexity of geography. Points-of-delivery of government services are typically located in
the headquarters of Federal Agencies, Ministries, State Capitals and LGA headquarters.
Under this arrangement, citizens are often compelled to travel from far flung areas to the
nearest points of service before. Examples of e-Government Services includes issuance of
Permanent Voters Card (PVC), National Identity Card, Travelling Document (Passport,
Yellow Card, etc.), Driver’s license, Vehicle Plate Number, payment of government fines and
sanction, issuance of industry license, permit, and authorizations, registration of businesses
and associations, issuance of Marriage Certificate, Birth & Death Certificate, Delivery of
Justice Administration, registration of Cooperatives,
For instance, Nigeria, a country with a high rate of informal sector composed of individuals
and their businesses has in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
sector devised and is implementing the National Vocational Qualification Framework
(NVQF) initially and more recently, the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).
NSQF is a system that recognizes an existing skill and matched it with a formal qualification

4. in terms of status and recognition. In essence, a skill level 1 is equivalent to primary school
certification/qualification, whereas levels 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 matches secondary, diploma,
degree, master and doctorate respectively. At the moment, Recognition of Prior Learning
(RPL) is about to be adopted by the various sector skills council in Nigeria in the TVET
sector. This will go a long way in formalizing existing skills in the informal sector using the
RPL policies, methods and frameworks. This willed finitely improve the revenue drive of
Nigeria which can be used for providing other social services.