THE ROLE OF EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER TWO

THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

2.1 The Role of Education in Economic Growth and Development:

Nigeria is indeed a centre for world commerce and industry judging by virtue of her seaports, Tourist Centres, Parks etc. To adequately mastermind the requirement of this natural endowment the federal government embarked on the training of engineers and environmentalist to harnessed these natural resources with the establishment of department of engineering in universities and polytechnics. There has been a massive production of engineers who have contributed their knowledge and skills towards the growth of Nigeria. The Nigerian domestic policies have actualized its goals and objectives by virtue of the advantageous position played by education. With the use of policies and recommendation by professionals there has been adequate management of Nigerian domestic and international relations with other countries leading to improved leaving standard, social economy growth, political stability infrastructural development, provision of basic amenities social reconstruction etc with the increased demand for education there has been a continuous drive for a better leaving condition and way of life thus bringing about modernization and sophistication to the ordinary man.

All these are the interplay of education. Soon after independence, in the advent of formal education there was a shift from traditional to formal approach of life, education has indeed transformed the traditional setting of Nigeria into a more completes entity. As a matter of fact education is the basic factor that necessitate all the aforementioned development. The Sub Sahara Africa, in Nigeria in particular, education remains the instrument for the emancipation of the populace from the ravaging effect of the deepened poverty, social injustice, economic meltdown, malnutrition, insecurity and all such social vices that have be devilled the Nigerian economy. It follows therefore that education remains the most potent indices for transformation of the society as well as the actualization of the yearning and aspirations of the people.

2.2 Education and Civil Service Administration in Nigeria:

Immediately Nigeria gained her independence, she was faced with the enormous responsibility of administration and governance, this led to the creation and establishment of departments and ministries in the three geographical region. Ever since, it has been a bottle neck and problematic issue to successfully administer the civil service. There has been series of reformation in the civil service with all aimed at attaining excellence in service delivery. However, with the advent and establishment of tertiary institutions across Nigeria the enormous challenge that be-devilled the civil Service has been drastically reduced as a result of massive production of university graduates.

This is one of the most strategic areas were education has brought Nigeria to lime light in both domestic and international arena. With the professional expertise resulting from educational expansion in Nigeria the problem hitherto associated with the civil service has been drastically reduced over the years. Much of the bulk of the recommendations of the 1988 civil service reformation were educationally inclined and structured by administrative professionals from the tertiary institutions therefore, it is evident that education is a tool for societal emancipations, equity and justice, public sensitization and other developmental initiatives Edigin (2006).

2.3 Education as a Tool for Deepening Democracy

Education should ideally liberate one from the corrupting shackles of greed and graft, from the basal influences of primitive superstition, of ethnic and religious bigotry and from the corrosive instincts of selfishness and parochialism. Good wholesome education strives for excellence over mediocrity and promotes the patriotic spirit in place of blind sycophancy good wholesome education should place high premium on truth, justice, individual and social morality, as well as peace making. Good whole education should be education in leadership, the type that would throw up the leader as servant, mentor, inspirer and visionary. Good, wholesome education should emphasize civic and political awareness, training in human dignity and fundamental human rights and citizen responsibilities. Good, wholesome education should encompass training in the democratic culture and in popular participation in governance. Good, wholesome education today should include training in healthy living, ecological justice and environmental sustainability.

“Higher education can play a vital role as we work together in common cause to consolidate those gains, to strengthen institutions, to fight repression, to promote good governance. The power of education is integral to spreading peace and deepening democracy. When people participate in the democratic process and become engaged, they build peace, day by day, year by year”.www.un.org/News/Press/doc/2011/sgsm13799.doc.htm)

The recent democratic experience that has been witnessed in Nigeria is by and large a byproduct of education in Nigeria. Democratic philosophies governing the Nigerian democratic system has been sustained and structured on principles of educations as shown in public enlightenment, sensitization, work shop, seminars-all being medium through which education have advanced the philosophy and ideology of education. Education has indeed strengthened the democratic stability in Nigeria. At the grass root level education have impacted the gains of democracy on local government administration, with the resultant effect of growth and development of local governments. The state and the federal government have equally experienced growth and development arising from democracy with education playing tremendous role. Before now the military dictatorship heightened Nigeria underdevelopment however, with the dawn of a new erademocracy, there was a reversal of this trend. Nigeria is fast becoming one of the most viable economy in the world by 2020 international speculations and education is the means by which the realization of this dream can come true.

UNESCO (2006), UNAIDS (2008). The furtherance of the philosophical ideology and framework of education will help to foster the continuity of advancement realities. In a nutshell education has been the credo of civilization for the African nations since their independence with Nigeria inclusive. It is hoped that in the nearest future education in Nigeria will be embraced by all and this will go a long way in bringing Nigeria to the forefront of global development. Education should be a mandatory prerequisite for all youths in Nigeria and timing age groups up to the age of schooling. With the attainment of this radical economic initiatives the

Nigeria society will encounter speedy progressive, economy, social, political and social transformation in short education is the key to unlocked the doors of social progress. Before the advent of educational boom in Nigeria, the military dictatorship was galvanized and impoverished with dictatorship and brutality all arising from illiteracy. However, with the illumination of educational advancement the trend had change over the years with the arrival of democratic governance. Nigeria has within a short period witnessed tremendous growth in social progress, freedoms of speech, freedom of association, freedom of movement and other human rights that were hither to bastardized before the era of democracy. Education remains the only tool within which the practice of democracy can be perfected and it remains the only weapon with which such perfection can be sustained.

2.4 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

The concept of human resource development has assumed great importance recently. Human resource development is a long and continuing process. There is no blue print of HRD. According to H.L Verna and M.C George “Human resource development has been defined as the process of increasing the knowledge, skills and the capacities of the people in society."(Human resource in India, P-I). The concept of development is qualitative as well as quantitative. According to Prof. J.D.Sethi “Human resource development, if taken as total development means optimum utilization of existing human capacities-intellectual, technological, entrepreneurial and even moral and creation of new ones."

2.2.4 EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Education plays a vital role in development process. The power in manpower comes from education. Education is an effective means for the transformation of the society through the development of human resources. It itself a fundamental need because it increases an individual understanding of himself, his society and his natural environment and gives him access to his

cultural heritage. It improves living standard, enhances productivity by improving work skills and decreasing birth rate by raising women status. Education, an important indicator of the strategy of human development, is the key to open the door to modernization. To build the skill and knowledge for the development of resources for economic, social, cultural and political growth and to provide avenues of participation, to create a better society for all are the aims of the strategy of Human resource development.

The accumulation of human capital might begin with moral education and could eradicate illiteracy to make people realize their responsibility. "Education is the most useful instrument in human capital formation efforts or a vehicle of social transformation. Education, more than any other single initiatives, has the capacity to foster developments, awaken talents, empower people and protect their right." (UNICEF, 2000). Human resources are not fully in born and natural. It means that man does not turn into resources just after his birth. So the process of formal and informal education enables him to be turned into human resource. A certain level of literacy of a man helps him to turn into human resource. There is a difference between a man and human resource. A man is considered human resource when he actively involves himself in social productive process. As for example:

i.A man is considered a resource only when he can participate in any production process in society.

ii.Only a healthy man is considered as a resource. Health or physical capacity is an essential component of human resource.

iii.There is some individual and special mental capability in a man beside his common mental capability. This individual mental capability helps him in drawing a special activity or work efficiency. A man with this individual and special capability is called a human resource.

iv.Education is the most important element of human resource and the literacy must be up to the specified social standard (Sheikh, 2003, P.74-75).

According to Myrdal (1968, p.21) human resource can be developed with the development of following eight ingredients)

1. Food and Nutrition;

2. Clothing

3. Housing and Sanitation;

4. Health facilities

5. Education

6. Information media (ICT)

7. Energy consumption and

8. Transport

But "the most important among them through is education"(Sharma and Neeta, 1989, p. 266).

2.4.1 IMPACT OF EDUCATION ON HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

There is no alternative of education and training to convert people into human resource. The influence of education on human resource development is extensive. The impact of education on human resource development is given below.

i) Awareness development: Education increases self-awareness. It can help to know their habit, culture, social status and management.

ii) Learning: By acquiring knowledge one can develop himself, his family and also can participate in country's development.

iii) Thinking and judgment: Education can help to think transparently free from emotion and prejudice. As a result, they can invent exact work process on the basis of analyzing individual and socio-economic condition. Besides this, they can also able to make well plan.

iv) Generous outlook: Education can help man's outlook to be generous and democratic. It teaches to be united. So they can able to build up society, Social welfare organizations and other co-operative organizations.

v) Duties and responsibilities: Education can build up consciousness about their Duties and responsibilities. So they can implement and establish their rights in their social and political life.

vi) Modern science and technology based education: Modern science and technology based education can enhance the ability to do heavy work within a short time and it can also increase the quality of work.

vii) Medical science and economic effect: The application of higher education in medical science can develop the health services of a country. As a result the life expectancy will increase and that would be helpful to play a role in economic development for long time.

viii) Education and religious values: Religious values of every one are awakened by education. These religious values conduct the works and earnings in right way. This trend continued to generation by generation. As a result, country and nation can be developed in economically, politically, culturally and in other aspects.

From the above discussion, it is clear that the impact of education is multidirectional.

2.5 APPROACHES TO MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT

2.5.1 HUMAN CAPITAL APPROACH

Human capital is the stock of competencies, knowledge and personality attitudes embodied in the ability to perform labour so as to produce economic value. It is the attributes gained by a worker through education and experience. Many early economic theories refer to it simply as workforce, one of three factors of production, and consider it to be a fungible resource. Adam Smith defined human capital as the acquired and useful abilities of all the inhabitants or members of the society. The acquisition of such talents, by the maintenance of the acquirer during his education, study, or apprenticeship, always costs a real expense, which is a capital fixed and realized as it were in his person. The improved dexterity of a workman may be considered in the same light as a machine or instrument of trade which facilitates and abridges labour and which though it costs a certain expense, repays that expense with a profit. Therefore, Smith argued the productive powers of labour are both dependent on the division of labour. “The greatest improvement in the productive powers of labour and the greater part of the skill, dexterity and judgment with which it is anywhere directed or applied seem to have been the effects of the division of labour.

Lewis (1954) is said to have begun the field of Economic development and consequently the idea of human capital when he wrote a book titled: the “Economic Development with unlimited supplies of labour”. The term “human capital” was not used due to its negative undertones until it was first discussed by Arthur Cecil Pigou. “There is such a thing as investment in human capital as well as investment in material capital”.

The set of skills which an employee acquires on the job, through training and experience and which increase that employee’s value in the market place can be seen as human capital.

Human capital is the abilities and skills of any individual, especially those acquired through investment in education and training that enhance potential income earnings.

The concept of human capital can be interpreted in many ways. One of them could be looking at the person as an asset, as a resource that belongs to the organization and from which we can demand all its capacity and commitment. A more suitable definition is that human capital is a treasure that a company or institution have available with respect to the qualification of the personnel that works there. Therefore, human capital represents the value that each employee brings to the table, according to his/her studies, knowledge, capabilities and skills.

2.5.2 EDUCATIONAL APPROACH

Manpower development is the building and enhancement of human resources through formal education and training. It is therefore an important prerequisite for national development. Realizing the importance of manpower development, African countries have expended a significant part of their meager resources in planning, development and utilization of human resources. Hence, the magnitude of the issue lends this research significant. As indicated by Abegaz, a theoretical underpinning that explains the concept and approach in manpower planning is vital. Individuals with education at university level and some work experience are expected to play an important role in national development.

Along with manpower development goes manpower planning and the mobilization of human resource in order to achieve desired outcomes. This entails the number of people to be educated and trained within a given time frame for specific job performance. From the point of manpower policy formulation to its implementation, there are serious flaws to be reckoned with. Some of the problems are, taking data in order to appease the people or enhance the power of politicians, lack of relationship between training and performance on the job, educating or training personnel for non-existing jobs, failure to absorb trained and highly educated personnel and status inconsistency whereby people occupy high level jobs or are given titles that are inconsistent with their training. Another constraint is “brain drain”, wherein highly skilled individuals from Africa migrate to the developed industrial countries in search of opportunities for economic advancement. While investment in manpower development is significant, the exodus of highly developed human resource from Africa is a great loss to the continent.

Universities produce the technical and professional manpower needed to promote and control all aspects of development. But there are doubts as to whether a university’s development plan should be set exclusively by the government’s estimates of manpower requirements. Higher education in Nigeria is seen as the prime basis for high level manpower development. Hence, the emphasis placed on expansion of universities to catch up and achieve more even development.

Education is what helps us to acquire suitable appreciation of our cultural heritage and to live a fully more satisfying life. This includes the acquisition of desirable knowledge, skills, habits, values for productive living in the society. It equips the members of any human group with the capabilities of personal survival in and contributing to other group survival in the wider world (Alade, 2006). The foregoing explains that the end and purposes of education include the cognitive development of deeper intellectual skills, the acquisition of technical skills and character training concerned with the appreciations, feelings and values of these educated. It is also crystal clear that education reverse to both the process by which we acquire knowledge, skills, habits and values as well as the results of the process, that involves both learning and teaching. So, no one would doubt the value of being educated in any community. A clear testimony of this statement is in the adage: “If you plan for one year, plant rice, if you plan for 10 years plant trees, if you plan for 100 years educate a person”. Indeed the best and long lasting gift any one can offer to someone or a community in this regard is good education. This is unambiguously incompatible to the gift of silver, gold or diamond. Education is one of the correlates of socio-economic, cultural, political, democratic, technological and medico-legal development of a nation.

Education thus restores to mankind its humanity. It is globally a very vital element for social development and economic growth all over the world. This explains why nations have expended a lot of resources on education. Education in general and higher education in particular are fundamental to the construction of a knowledge, economy and society in all nations (Okebukola, 2000). Yet the potential of higher education systems in developing countries to fulfill this responsibility is frequently thwarted by long standing problems of finance, efficiency, equity, quality and governance among others. Now, these old challenge have been augmented by new challenges linked to the growing role of knowledge in economic

development, rapid changes in manpower skills and the globalization of trade and labour markets (Obi, 2003).

Education is often linked to schooling and schooling improves productivity, health and reduces negative features of life such as child labour as well as bringing about employment. This is why there has been a lot of emphasis particularly in recent times for all citizens of the world to have access to basic education. Education as a social institution therefore could be seen as a great value concerned with imparting knowledge and skills which help an individual to participate in society and nation building (Roman-Yusuf, 2003). At the tertiary levels, it is no news that university system is a medium through which objectives of education are expected to be achieved. In an examination of the concept of “university”, Adebayo (2005), declared that in the Middle Ages, the word “universitas” meant an association, a guild, a corporation, just like a guild of craftsmen or traders. The university at the beginning was an association of teachers or scholars. The university was a body of persons gathered in a particular place for the dissemination and assimilation of knowledge in advanced fields of study. Today, the university is an institution of higher learning providing facilities for teaching and research and authorized to grant academic and innovation for the over all socio-economic empowerment of individuals and community development (Babalola & Okediran, 1997).

The link between education and development in human society cannot be easily described. Starting from the time of the early man, education has formed the bedrock of development. A shift from the use of crude implement to the use of mechanized equipment in agriculture was made possible through the process of education. A look at the industrial revolution in Europe and the technological advancement in Japan and other industrialized nations shows that all were the outcome of functional education systems. This was why Mackinnon (1985) observed the link between education and development and asserted that “Education is development”.

Education develops an individual and raises his capacity to produce and make meaningful contribution to the development of the society. This was why Enoh (1996) observed that education is the greatest stimulus for development because it strains the required manpower in which other developments depends.

2.6 HIGHER EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

The wealth of nations and universities plays a key role in determining the quality and centrality of a university or academic system. This places developing countries at a significant disadvantage, and puts special strains on most academic systems facing the dilemma of expanded enrolment and the need to support top-quality research universities.

Globally, the percentage of the age cohort enrolled in tertiary education has grown from 19% in 2000 to 26% in 2007, with the most dramatic gains in upper middle and upper income countries. There are some 150.6 million tertiary students globally, roughly a 53% increase over 2000. In low-income countries tertiary-level participation has improved only marginally, from 5% in 2000 to 7% in 2007. Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest participation rate in the world (5%). In Latin America, enrolment is still less than half that of high income countries. Attendance entails significant private costs that average 60% of GDP per capita.

Providing higher education to all sectors of a nation's population means confronting Social inequalities deeply rooted in history, culture and economic structure that influence an individual's ability to compete. Geography, unequal distribution of wealth and resources all contribute to the disadvantage of certain population groups. Participation tends to be below national average for populations living in remote or rural areas and for indigenous groups. A number of governments have put measures in place to increase access: Mexico's Ministry of Education has invested in the development of additional educational services in disadvantaged areas with some success: 90 percent of students enrolled are first in their family to pursue higher education, 40% live in economically depressed areas. Initiatives in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania have lowered admission cut-offs for women to increase female enrollment.

The Indian government obliges universities to reserve a set of spaces for "socially and economically backward classes (Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Class (OBC)). There has been modest improvement in the enrollment of these people over the past three decades. Although the reservation policy of the government says 49% of the total seats are allocated for the underprivileged people, for example SC-15%; ST-7% and OBC- 27%, however, the participation of lower castes in the economic development is abysmal. The rural populations and Muslims lags behind the general population and lower castes tend to be clustered in less expensive programs.

In Brazil the legislature has mandated universities to reserve space for disabled and Afro- Brazilian students. Even in countries where enrolment is high, inequalities persist: in the United States, participation rates for minority students continue to lag behind. Community colleges have made tertiary education more accessible but research shows that the likelihood that community college students will continue on to a four-year degree is largely determined by the socioeconomic status of the student's family, regardless of race or ethnicity.

Cost remains an enormous barrier to access. Even where tuition is free, students have to bear indirect costs such as living expenses and often loss of income. Scholarships, grant and/or loan programs are demonstrating some degree of success but cannot by themselves remove economic barriers. Fear of debt tends to be a greater deterrent for students from poorer backgrounds. Income-contingent loan schemes (where repayment plans are tied to post- graduation earnings) have gained popularity in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa but are still more attractive to middle and lower-middle class students. Mexico has introduced loan programs that make the private sector more accessible to a broader spectrum of families. Chile has introduced a new loan program that targets students from low-income families.

2.7 EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (HRD) IN DEVELOPING ECONOMY

2.7.1 ST. LUCIA

Education and HRD have been identified by the government as key strategies for the island’s development as it focuses on reforming the education system and developing the workforce (Scotland, 2004). An island country about three times the size of Washington D.C., St. Lucia is located in the Caribbean between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean. Self- government was granted in 1967 and independence in 1979. At one time the island’s primary production was agricultural but environmental concerns and deforestation are now major economic issues. Today St. Lucia has a high migration of skilled workers and a heavy dependence on the tourism and IT sectors of industry (Scotland, 2004). As of July 2006, according to The World Factbook (2007), the island’s population was nearly 200,000 with the majority of the population between the ages of 15 and 64 years. Therefore, human resource development is seen as vital to the island’s development process (Scotland, 2004).

It’s important to note that not so long ago most development projects in the Caribbean were financed with foreign aid. Particularly in the 1980s when Cold War rivalry for influence

between the U.S. –led capitalist West and the former Soviet-led communist East was at its height in the region. During this period, millions of dollars in development assistance poured in from the United States, Canada, Britain, and other Western donors. The money was used for a variety of purposes: to build roads, schools, hospitals, and ports, build infrastructure, and finance human resource development programs to provide the various skills needed for development. That all changed with the fall of communism and the opening up of world markets in the early 1990s. Rather than rely on aid to drive employment, developing countries such as St. Lucia initiated their own systems within the government to address development problems in the areas of health, culture, job skills, and education.

Scotland (2004) asserts that weaknesses in the education system and inadequate HRD have contributed to the island’s poverty, joblessness, and lack of economic competitiveness driving the need for NHRD. As a result, St. Lucia has implemented proactive strategies as part of their NHRD policy coupling education with training to address ongoing issues. The education system in St. Lucia is closely linked to NHRD. According to St. Lucia’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) information website (2003) one of the major functions of the Department of Human Resource Development within the Ministry of Education defined in the National Development Plan is to expose the public to other cultures and systems of life-long learning through formal and informal means, including distance learning. One other example of the island’s NHRD policy towards island development is the implementation of a Caribbean Tourism Learning System which serves to increase quality, relevance, and access to human development in industry (Scotland, 2004).

2.7.2 ERITREA

Since the country’s most valuable asset is its people the country embraced nation- centered education policies within the framework of an HRD strategy which takes a manpower approach to advance the nation in terms of international competitiveness (Muller, 2004). In common with other developing countries, the government is a major employer of highly skilled and educated manpower (Eritrea: Human Resource for Sustainable Industrial Development, 2003). This could also be one of the reasons why education is of primary importance to Eritrea’s NHRD policy – it provides skilled government employees.

Eritrea achieved its independence from Ethiopia in 1993. Slightly bigger than Pennsylvania, Eritrea is part of Eastern Africa bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan. Its

population of 3.2 million (the size of Chicago) is divided up into nine different ethnic groups (Muller, 2004). After Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia, the tiny country was so war-torn that its main economic activity of agriculture was severely disrupted, the infrastructure highly damaged, and health and educational facilities destroyed (2004).

2.7.3 SAUDI ARABIA

The human resource strategy currently implemented embraces a broad and inclusive education system that includes general education from kindergarten to secondary school and includes teacher training colleges, higher education universities, and technical education and training in both public and private sectors (Alsahlawi & Gardener, 2004). In this geographic region of the world education and human resource development is also an important factor in economic growth for influencing changes in economic structure. Saudi Arabia, slightly larger than one fifth of the entire United States entered the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December 2005. A burgeoning population (27 million), aquifer depletion, and an economy largely dependent on petroleum output and prices are all ongoing governmental concerns (The World Factbook, 2007). Alsahlawi & Gardener (2004) state that the prior education systems in place in Saudi Arabia did not “foster strategic thinking by its pupils” (p. 180) and poor use of national manpower and weaknesses of vocational training programs were the main causes of labor shortages. The Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States (ABEGS) criticized the education system in Saudi Arabia because they are failing to provide skilled personnel to fill the gap in some key professions (Alsahlawi & Gardener, 2004). The struggle is between dominance of general education over technical, causing many educational and HRD researchers to come to the conclusion that the Saudi Arabia NHRD system, as it presently stands, is not responsive enough to real market needs (2004). Therefore Alsahlawi and Gardener (2004) assert that closing the gap between the labor market and the education system remains a top priority for sustainable economic development in this country.

Thus, it could be said that any nation, which refuses to develop her human resource would go into extinction. This also suggests that qualitative education is a prerequisite for the existence of a nation. No wonder, Onah, (2003) argued that any organisation or nation who refuses to develop her human resource will experience paralysis. A country which fails to achieve a proper balance in Human Resource Development will produce the wrong kind of high-

level of manpower; allow the perpetuation of the wrong kind of incentives and emphasis the wrong kind of training (Harbison and Myers: 1975).

2.8 TOOLS FOR MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS

The tools and methods for manpower development in organizations differs, and it is largely determined by the objectives of organizations, the idiosyncrasy of management staff or the chief executive, the organizational policy, as well as the organizational environment to mention a few. Thus, it is a common feature to see methods for manpower development varying from one organization to the other, just as a given organization can be tailored at adopting different methods at different times or a combination of techniques at the same time. However, some methods for manpower development are stated below:

2.8.1 ORIENTATION

This method of manpower development could be said to be an integral part of the recruitment exercise in that once an employee has been found appointable, it is expected that such an employee need to be positively oriented in line with the vision and aspiration of the organization for effective discharge of function. And since employee function in an organization is basically affected by his perception of the organization vis-à-vis the rules and principles that exist in the organization. It therefore follow that an employee undergoes formal and informal orientation in a place of work.

While the formal orientation focuses on job specification and occupational demands placed on the employee, the informal orientation involve the social interaction that take place in the place of work which could either boost productivity or be detrimental to it (Koontz et al. 1980). Orientation therefore, as a method of manpower development is quite indispensable because it helps in boosting the productivity of workers which is needed for competing in the global market of the 21st century.

2.8.2 ON THE JOB METHOD OF MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT

This method is basically different from the orientation method in that while orientation is at the point of entry into the organization or a new assignment; on the job method is a process through which knowledge and experience are acquired over a period of time either formally or informally. This process involve the following:

(a) Coaching:

This is a method of on the job training and development in which a young employee is attached to a senior employee with the purpose of acquiring knowledge and experience needed for the performance of tasks. (Yalokwu 2000).

(b) Job Rotation:

This method either involve the movement of an employee from one official assignment or department to the other, in order for the employee to be acquainted with the different aspects of the work process or through job enlargement – That is given additional responsibility to an employee who has been uplifted as a result of the acquisition of additional skill or knowledge (Yalokwu 2000; Lawal 2006).

(c) In House Training:

This involve a formal method of on the job training in which skills and knowledge are acquired by employees through internally organized seminars and workshops geared toward updating the workers with new techniques or skills associated with the performance of their jobs. (Lawal 2006).

(d) In Service Training:

This method involve training outside the organization or workplace in higher institution of learning or vocational centres under the sponsorship of the organization or on terms that may be agreed upon between the organization and the worker (Lawal 2006).

2.8.3 COMMITTEE/WORK GROUP METHOD

This method entails manpower development through the involvement of employees in meetings, committees and work group discussion geared towards injecting inputs in form of decision making as regard solving organizational problem. This method is quite indispensable, especially in the aspect of training employees for managerial functions or heading organizational units.

2.8.4 VESTIBULE TRAINING METHOD

This is a method of manpower development through the acquisition of skills in a related working environment (Nongo 2005). Under this method the trainee practices his skill with identical equipment that he uses or he is expected to use in his actual place of work. This method is most suitable for sensitive operations where maximal perfection is expected. The purpose is therefore to enable perfection at work place.

2.8.5 APPRENTICESHIP METHOD

This method of manpower development involves the acquisition of skill through extensive practice for over a period of time by the trainee. This type of manpower development device could either be formal or informal. In the informal environments the trainee is attached to the trainer, and he/she is expected to pay for an agreed period of apprenticeship (Nongo 2005). In the formal environment on the other hand, an employee of an organization could be placed under apprenticeship in the organization with pay.