Stakeholders in the Nigerian project on Tuesday urged President Bola Tinubu to include Statistician-General of the Federation into Federal Executive Council meeting to provide him informed data on which all his decisions should be based.
They made this call at a two day national stakeholders workshop on the production of National Strategy for the Development of Statistics, NSDS phase III.
They argued that no serious policy decision can take place in FEC without reliance on current statistical data from NBS, contending that any serious government must prioritise the accurate data from the bureau and leverage the free service of the agency in its decision making process.
In his presentation at the workshop, the human rights activist and former senator who represented Kaduna Central, Sen. Shehu Sani, explained the country had failed to make progress because those in position of authorities do not rely on credible data to make decisions but on sentiments.
“If those in position of power will prioritise importance of data, we would not have made the kind of mistakes we made.
“Before anybody unfolds an age data, the first person he should consult should be the statistician general of the federation. What has been missing is data they need. Rather they make decisions out sentiment.
”If you are not armed with accurate and reliable statistics, you will be rambling with skewed statistics.
“For NBS, your data should go to those in charge, I don’t see why statistician-general should not be in federal executive council.
”If you want to do things differently, let it be backed with data, so we know how to hold those in charge responsible before they go back to office.”
In his keynote address, t
Speaking at event, the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Budget and National Planning, Senator Kenneth Nze, backed Senator Sani in calling for inclusion of the statistician-general in FEC meeting.
He affirmed that for the ongoing reforms by the Tinubu’s administration to attain its goals, it must ensure the statistician-general became part of FEC to provide valid advice and direction needed to make informed decisions.
He identified the need for strategy to have accurate data that would help the government reposition the nation on the path of growth and challenged all the stakeholders in the industry to make valuable inputs in the ongoing process.
Chairman, House Committee on National Planning and Economic Development, Ibrahim Isiaka, urged NBS to continue to uphold its code of practice and maintain its neutrality in data collection and processing.
Urging NBS to extend its tentacles to goods and services where Nigeria had comparative advantage, Isiaka vowed that the House would ensure speedy passage of NBS bill seeking its full autonomy.
“This workshop is coming at the right time. I wonder the tools being used to make policies by government if the statistician-general of the federation, SGF, is not part of the decision making body.
“We will amend your Act with speed of light, capturing the informal sector is very imperative for future data gathering.
“The government of Nigeria shall democratise data and demonstrate the political will in the implementation of the outcome of this workshop,” he said.
The Director-General, Michael Imoudu National Institute of Labour Studies, Isa Aremu, said, “We need to promote statistical literacy for us to enjoy the benefits of accurate data. Without data, mass literacy, we cannot drive development. We need to democratise data and note the state of poverty of the poor and affluence of the few rich, if we must get our data right.”
In his address, the Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, said statistics, often referred to as the ‘silent language of governance,’ were the underpinnings of a robust, informed, and thriving society, and formed the bedrock upon which policies and programmes were shaped, resources allocated, and progress assessed or evaluated.
“We recognize that statistics are more than just numbers; they are the voice that narrates our nation’s story, informs our decisions, and paves the way for a brighter future, hence the vital need for a robust strategy to guide the growth and development of the system that produces the statistics we all rely on for our respective work.
“This strategy will serve as our guiding light, steering us towards a modernised and transformed statistical system.”
The Bureau noted that about 13.4 million Nigerian live on employment wage, a figure stakeholders called on NBS to interrogate further to ascertain the real number of Nigerian workers on living wage.
The Minister of Budget & Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, pointed out that the purpose of national statistical data was to provide mechanism for further reform of the NSS and acceleration of statistical development in Nigeria.
”NSDS engenders development of an integrated, harmonized, coordinated and coherent NSS to guarantee unified data production process.
He stated that the work shop has become imperative because data and statistics were the bedrock of democracy and national development.
“National statistics can only be strengthened with a sound legal framework and a well-developed national strategy that is robust, participatory and all-encompassing.
“One of the drivers of NSS is the NSDS, a national strategy which enables developing countries to build a reliable statistical system that produces the data necessary to design, implement and monitor national development policies and programmes.”
In his goodwill message, Dakuku Peterside said if policy makers must make serious policies, they must need statistics that would activate economic progress of the economy.
He said, “Most of our MDAs make emotional decisions and do not make evidence-based decisions.”
For him, building a National Statistical Data is not an option but a a critical strategy to make a difference in the life of any nation.”
The British High Commission, who was represented by Mr. A. Akintoye, lauded NBS for organizing the workshop and pledged its commitment to improving the capacity of its personnel and other stakeholders in the nation’s statistical ecosystem.
