Abuja – The Statistician-General, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Dr Yemi Kale, said on Wednesday that effective production of administrative statistics was capable of satisfying 70 per cent of data requirement in Nigeria.
Kale said this at a two-day stakeholders’ validation workshop on the “Compendium of Statistical Terms and Framework for the Production of Administrative Statistics’’ in Abuja.
Kale, who was represented by Mrs Felicia Abioye, the Director, Field Services and Methodology in the bureau, said that the programme was also aimed at providing the platform for proper assessment of implementation of the compendium.
“It is important to mention that instruments to be reviewed are critical to driving the process of statistical production in Nigeria, especially in the area of Administrative Statistics.
“Today’s occasion is also aimed at providing the platform for proper assessment of the implementation of the statistics component of the European Union Support to the Federal Government Public Service Reform Programme (EU-SUFEGOR).
“As for one of the implementing agencies of the EU-SUFEGOR Project, NBS is determined to leave no stone unturned.
This has become necessary as effective production of Administrative Statistics at this level is capable of satisfying about 70 per cent of data requirement in Nigeria.’’
The workshop was aimed at validating the compendium of statistical terms in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) under the European Union Support to the Federal Government Reform (SUFEGOR) Programme.
He, however, urged relevant stakeholders to support the implementation of a compendium of statistics to provide reliable data to the Federal Government.
“It is important that I re-emphasise the need for all stakeholders to support the implementation of the statistical component of the EU-SUFEGOR project.
“So as to provide government with comprehensive, timely and reliable statistics for the Federal Government Public Service Reform Programme.
“I urge you all as Ambassadors from your respective MDAs to accord this workshop the desired attention so that you will be able to add value to the work of the consultants.
“This is necessary as we must instill high sense of ownership in driving the process of statistical production in our respective MDAs.“
The statistician-General, therefore, urged the participants to come up with feasible ways and means of improving the delivery of good statistics in Nigeria.
Kale also expressed optimism that the recommendations from the workshop would help refocus the production of statistics for efficient and effective service delivery in the country.
Earlier in a welcome address, Abioye said that NBS would continue to explore new strategies in the production of data.
According to her, this will help consolidate the efforts being made in the production of statistics, a fundamental ingredient for development planning.
Abioye, who was represented by her Assistant Director, Mr Simeon Harry urged stakeholders to improve on the work of the consultants.
According to her, the framework for producing statistics at the MDAs level must conform to the peculiarity of each MDA.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that presentations were made on understanding the compendium and developing a System of Data Flows for Macro-level sector, among others. (NAN)