Nigerian News –The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) says it is committed to working closely with States to improve the quality and availability of timely statistics for policy formulation and implementation.
Dr Shamsuddeen Usman, the Minister of National Planning Commission, said this on Friday in Abuja at the Stakeholders Validation Workshop on the Needs Assessment Survey for Pilot States' Statistical Agencies and Planning Commissions.
Represented by the Secretary of the Commission, Mr Fidelis Ugbo, Usman said that the survey on needs assessment was only one out of many other federal and states collaborations that was being facilitated by the commission.
He said that the survey was aimed at deepening the planning and statistical process at the sub-national level.
“The Federal Government remains committed to working closely with the states in institutionalising a robust planning and statistical framework at the sub-national level.
“As part of the efforts toward ensuring effective implementation of the survey, the National Planning Commission engaged the Centre for Management Development (CMD) to serve as lead consultant on the project.,'' the minister said.
He said that the objective of the assessment survey was to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the states' statistical agencies and planning commissions.
In his remark, Dr Kabir Usman, the Director General of CMD and the lead consultant of the Needs Assessment Survey, said that the scope of the pilot phase of the survey covered two states within each of the six geopolitical zones of the country.
“The pilot states are Anambra and Enugu (South-East), Gombe and Taraba (North–East), Cross River and Rivers (South-South), Niger and Kogi (North-Central), Kano and Sokoto (North-West) and Ekiti and Lagos (South-West).''
He said that the pilot states were selected based on their population, economic activities and internally generated revenue.
“It is important to note that the methodology adopted by the consultant was consistent with the international standard and best practice.
“The key message from the report on the Needs Assessment Survey is that there are capacity gaps, especially in the area of infrastructure and personnel in the states' statistical agencies and planning commissions, which need to addressed,'' the director-general said.
He said that specifically, the report showed that statistical information in Nigeria was lacking, in spite of the fact that statistical data were like the sub-structure that supports the super structure.
According to him, where data are available, their integrity, accuracy, and sustainability and serviceability are questionable.
Usman said that state governments were expected to establish planning commissions and statistical bureaus similar to the structures at the federal level.
He stressed the need for increased collaboration and synergy between the federal and states planning commissions, and statistics bureaus to bridge the infrastructure and personnel gaps.
In his comment, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), urged the state governments to use the opportunity of states Gross Domestic Product computation to build capacity of the state statistical agencies.
Sanusi, who was represented by Dr Sani Doguwa, the Director of Statistics Department of the CBN, said that the capacity should be built in line with the methodology for compiling and analysing micro and macro data at the state level.
According to him, this will enable the state planning commissions to make policies, monitor such policies and evaluate their effectiveness.
Mr Daouda Toure, the UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator, urged all the participants to offer relevant and innovative ideas that would assist government in building an effective, efficient and sustainable statistical system in Nigeria.
Represented by Mrs Collins Zamba, an official in the UN system, Toure said that as Nigeria progressed in its path of development to becoming one of the world's 20 largest economies, “the role of statistics is more important and should be progressively played by the country.''—(NAN)
