President of Chartered Institute of Statisticians of Nigeria (CISON), Dr Godday Ebuh, says statistical development must be recognised as essential infrastructure for governance and not treated as peripheral administrative function.
Ebuh stated this in a keynote address at the third international conference of the institute and its 50th anniversary celebration held at Chida Event Centre, Utako Abuja, from October 14 to 16, 2026.
The conference theme is “From Legacy to Leadership: 50 Years of Statistical Development in Nigeria.”
The CISON boss said every generation faces a defining choice to preserve gains of the past or transform them into a greater future, adding that credible data can illuminate choices, strengthen institutions and change the course of a nation.
He noted that for five decades statistics has helped Nigeria see itself more clearly through population and household data, national accounts, price indices and statistics on agriculture, health, education, labour, trade and public finance which have enabled measurement of progress, exposure of disparities and allocation of scarce resources.
Ebuh saluted pioneers who laid foundations of Nigeria’s statistical system, institutions that advanced standards, teachers and practitioners whose evidence strengthened policy, research, enterprise and public accountability.
According to him, the theme is both celebration and summons, noting that in an age shaped by data, spatial analysis, digital technology and artificial intelligence, statisticians cannot remain at the margins of national decision making.
He urged statisticians to lead with accuracy, integrity, transparency and courage that allows evidence to speak even when the message is inconvenient.
Ebuh called on governments at federal, state and local levels to provide predictable and adequate funding for national statistical system, protect professional and operational independence of statistical institutions, recruit, train and retain qualified statisticians, modernise data infrastructure, strengthen coordination and secure exchange of administrative data and guarantee timely public access to credible statistics.
He called for the establishment of a high level time bound programme for statistical development with clearly assigned responsibilities, firm financing commitments and transparent performance milestones.
He said every ministry, department and agency should maintain fit for purpose data systems, appoint competent statistical leadership and comply with common standards for quality, interoperability, confidentiality and dissemination.
He listed immediate priorities as reintroduction of teaching of statistics in secondary schools, conduct of long overdue population and housing census, inclusion of CISON in accreditation of statistics programmes in tertiary institutions and domiciling data science programmes in statistics departments.
He also called on subnational governments to establish functional state bureaus of statistics across 36 states to complement work of the national statistical office, noting that without strong subnational statistics, national averages may conceal communities most in need of attention.
He challenged participants to ensure the conference produces clear commitments, realistic timelines and measurable results.
He said, “The future will not judge us by the data we possess, but by the difference we made with it.”
