ABUJA – The Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr Yemi Kale, on Tuesday, said the Nigerian Statistical System (NSS) had begun the implementation of the National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDS).
Kale, represented by Mr Boniface Amobi, Director of Demography and Social Statistics, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), made this known at the 2014 African Statistics Day Celebration, in Abuja.
The theme of the celebration is “Open Data for Accountability and Inclusiveness.’’
He said that the objective of NSDS was to serve as mechanism for the development of a coherent and unified statistical system that would guarantee uniformity in data production across the three tiers of government.
“In essence, the NSDS is capable of developing a system that would produce data for accountability and inclusiveness as a way of facilitating economic growth and development.
“Indeed, the purpose is to address the varied challenges in producing open data as the apex statistical agency and custodian of official statistics which led the NSS advocacy campaign to sensitise the relevant stakeholders.
“The NSDS will help to promote effective and cordial relationship between data producers and users, thereby enhancing and ensuring the openness, relevance and timeliness of data,’’ he said.
According to Kale, today’s African Statistics Day celebration reminds us of the immense task of raising public awareness on the importance of statistics.
Speaking at the occasion, Ms Colleen Zamba of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), said that statistics were imperative as the celebration recognized that without valid statistics, nobody could progress, eradicate poverty or create better lives for Africans.
Zamba restated UNDP’s commitment to support the development of statistics in Nigeria and Africa.
Earlier, Mrs Felicia Abioye, the Director, Field Services and Methodology at NBS, said that the importance of statistics informed the declaration of Nov. 18, every year as African Statistics Day by African ministers in charge of statistics. (NAN)
