The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu has stated that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is committed to the sanctity of data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
He said the government recognised the independence of the NBS to produce the data, and never sought to interfere in any way, shape or form with the coordination and timing.
Senator Bagudu spoke on Monday, at the Celebration of the African Statistics Day, held at the Headquarters of the NBS in Abuja.
The Minister said Nigeria has taken concrete steps towards the transformation of her statistical landscape, adding that the NBS has been pivotal in implementing new frameworks that ensure the continuous improvement of data collection, processing and dissemination, as well as overall coordination of the data system.
While commending the NBS and development partners for a job well done, Bagudu pledged the federal government’s commitment to ensuring their independence.
“The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics and the Nigerian Statistics System have done well. They have been supported by development partners. We all appreciate them. We will continue to appreciate their independence. We will continue to appreciate the hard-working men and women in the system and ensure that we continue to give them the support in order that they can lead us,” the Minister said.
He, however, submitted that many people in Africa who interface or utilize data, quite often do not know the methodologies used, therefore, there is a need for clarity.
“Typically, data systems rely on methodologies, and the sanctity of the data system quite often requires an interrogation of the methodologies, especially in a world where the data and the way it is presented could be stylized or even imperial in nature. And therefore, the need to focus on and ensure that methodologies are clarified,” Bagudu said.
He said that the African statistical systems must tell African stories and not rely on methodologies developed by the west.
Speaking, earlier, the Statistician General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer, NBS, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran said, the theme for this year’s celebrations, “Supporting education by modernizing the production of fit-for- purpose statistics” is a clear reminder of one of the major issues facing the African Statistical System and by extension the global system, particularly in the light of recent changes and advancements in the data ecosystem which is being driven by technology, adding that more innovative approaches and information are required to tackle the challenges in today’s world, including that of the education sector.
Prince Adeniran said that data shows that entities that innovate, on average, experience a 30% growth in value than those that do not and outperform them by 11% in terms of total revenue, annually.
He said, “At NBS, we have adopted the mantra of innovation to stay relevant in meeting the demands of our mandate. This is in line with the Data Innovation Lab (DIL) initiative of the African Development Bank and the Roadmap for the transformation and modernization of official statistics in Africa being championed by the African Centre for Statistics.
“Accordingly, we have set up a Data Innovation Desk within the Bureau to advance, monitor, and track all data innovation initiatives across our production and dissemination processes,” he added.
The Statistician General said, on the theme for the celebration, “supporting education by modernizing the production of fit-for-purpose statistics,” NBS has made some strides in that regard, noting that the last Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS-6) which was published in 2022, for the first time, data was collected on children 3 years and above (previously only information on children aged 5 and above was canvassed).
“This effort alone has resulted in more robust information on early childhood development in Nigeria which is in line with the National Education Policy. 10. We have also supported several programmes in the development of the education sector. One such programme was the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA). Under this programme, NBS working with the Federal Ministry of Education and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), provided very useful information to support the programme.
“Information on approximately 5 million pupils across 17 States enrolled and validated onto a special Intensive Literacy Programme, as well as the teachers trained to provide the support were collected and reported. The information also included the geo-listing of over 45,000 schools across the 17 focus states, with contact details of the head teachers and principals.
“This information amongst many others collected during the exercise provides vital insights not only into the BESDA programme and its impact but also on the wider situation of Education in the States covered,” Adeniran said.
He informed that with the support of the World Bank, the Bureau is also piloting a programme using technology to strengthen the collation, validation and dissemination of administrative statistics across Federal Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
He said, “MDAs have been selected for the pilot phase, and Education Statistics has been chosen as one of the focus areas in this pilot. So, over the next few weeks, our staff will be engaging with the relevant agencies under the Ministry of Education to carry out this exercise.
“By the end of the exercise there will be a significant enhancement in the quality and accessibility of administratively generated education statistics in Nigeria,” the NBS boss said.
