Nigeria’s statistician general, Yemi Kale, has been invited to the Chatham House of London today (July 21) to speak on the relevance of data for development and how the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has been leading the continent with innovation and methodology, with regard to data processing and dissemination.
Kale becomes the first Nigerian director-general or government official in that class to be invited for discussions to the London House, with world-class reputation for independence, influence and rigorous, dependable, policy-relevant research, which has over time been recognised for providing high quality and lucid analysis on a wide array of global issues.
The last Nigerian to be invited for talks there was President Muhammadu Buhari, immediately before the 2015 general elections.
According to information seen by BusinessDay on the Chatham House website, Kale would be speaking on the topic, ‘Right Data, Right Policy? Innovations in Data Collection and Dissemination in Nigeria.’
“Dr Yemi Kale, the statistician general of Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics, will discuss the country’s efforts to gather and disseminate improved data in the face of logistical challenges and a domestic lack of trust in institutions. He will discuss the significance of improved data to better policy-making,” Chatham House noted on its website.
“The availability and accuracy of data is central to resolving multifaceted governance challenges in Africa and has a critical role to play in improving transparency and decision-making.
“The 2014 rebasing of Nigeria’s GDP saw Nigeria become the largest economy in Africa and also shone a light on the potential extent of gaps in data and understanding of policy contexts resulting from informal activity and challenges to data collection,” the House added.
The discussions is being coordinated by the Africa Programme at the Chatham House, which, headed by Alex Vines, aims to develop foreign policy-oriented research on issues affecting individual states of Africa, the African continent as a whole and relations with the outside world.
The programme has hosted the former President of Nigeria, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, former chair of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, and Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Nigeria’s statistical system has evolved over time, especially with the sweeping reforms of 2007, that led to the emergence of a new law setting up the current NBS.
The volume of data requests both online and from walk-in visitors testify to the increased attention on Nigeria’s statistics. For instance, in the first one month following the release of the rebased national accounts/GDP series last year, the Bureau averaged three downloads per minute for the main reports.
“Both of these broad factors have combined to increase the demand for Nigeria’s economic statistics in the last few years,” said an expert recently.
Last year, the Bureau had almost 6 million hits its website and users downloaded reports over 2 million times compared with less than 100,000 hits and less than 50,000 downloads four years ago.
“We must acknowledge that the improvement in the Nigerian statistical system and the modernisation and technology driven approach to data collection processing and dissemination as well as the renewed openness and willingness to engage data users and answer their questions on the data has also been a driving force,” Kale once told an audience.
Last year, NBS had by far the highest freedom of information requests and responses of any agency in Nigeria. Data dissemination has seen a number of innovations, driven largely by efforts to save costs and maximise the use of technology.
The Bureau is also in the process of developing an App that brings data to the user on the move.
However, there are still huge challenges that the Bureau contends with, including finding innovative means of sustainably financing statistical activities both at the federal and state levels, is urgently needed.
There is also need to better coordinate with the development partners and ensure a more effective alignment of mutual interests with respect to an enduring national statistical system.
Experts think there is also need to improve coordination efforts with state governments by building staff capacity and undertaking joint activities to strengthen institutional partnerships, among others.
Onyinye Nwachukwu, Abuja
