Saminaka (Kaduna) – The Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr Yemi Kale, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) would likely establish a Statistics Trust Fund to address paucity of fund.
Kale said this when he was fielding questions from stakeholders at a two-day workshop on the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) and Sector Statistics in Saminaka, Kaduna State.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the stakeholders had asked questions on ways to address lack of funds to carry out statistical activities across the country.
Other concerns raised by the stakeholders were on the confidentiality in data gathering and withdrawal of donor organisations in supporting statistical activities in the country.
Kale said that the idea of establishing a Trust Fund was for the entire statistical system in the country to benefit from.
“We are talking about more collaboration with the private sector because they also need some data, looking at different ways of ensuring that data is properly funded, “ he said.
According to him, it will be difficult to charge users of data for any fee in a bid to generate revenue since the Federal Government has provided money to conduct surveys.
Kale, however, explained that the reason for the withdrawal of donor organisations’ support for statistical activities was not connected to lack of trust in the country.
“The objective of supporting the country from the beginning was that they were not supposed to be funding our activities forever.
“They provided the funding at the beginning of the reforms process to get the statistical system up and running in the assumption that government will continue funding it.
“I observed that the withdrawal started four years ago, they have been supporting the government to increase funding in the statistical activities and their withdrawal is also a lesson,“ he said.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
The statistician-general, however, said that it was a lesson for the government to invest in data gathering and dissemination to enhance national development.
On confidentiality of data, Kale said that the law prevented the NBS from given any information that would have negative impact on the respondents.
Similarly, he said the law also prevented respondents from refusing to give information to NBS, saying “Freedom of Information (FOI) Act did not back confidentiality rule.
“We can take the respondent to court if he refuses to give us data and you as the respondent if we misuse your data, you can also take us to court.
“I think FOI is supporting the information that is already available to the public, data that we collect in confidence for individual business cannot be released to the public.
“FOI Act cannot compel us to give such sensitive information. The FOI is not supposed to clash with existing confidentiality rules, “ Kale said.
In addition, he told the stakeholders that the NBS was looking at various ways of preventing possibility of hacking of the statistical data, noting that the bureau currently back up its data.
NAN reports NSDS 2016 to 2019 being reviewed is expected to integrate the Vision 20:2020, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other development initiatives included in the Sector Strategic Plans for Statistics.
The workshop was organised by NBS with funding from the European Union (EU), under the EU Support to the Federal Government Reform Programme.
No fewer than 157 state Statisticians-General and Director of Statistics in state bureaux of statistics across the country attended the workshop. (NAN) CIA/MOL/GY
