Okey Iheduru <okeyiheduru@gmail.com> wrote:
Making unsubstantiated allegations against NBS and the Government (thereby actually breaking quite a number of laws) is not a good way to encourage them to improve on their still low but rising capacity. A recent survey (see below) shows that you don't have to be "an agent of the Nigerian government" to appreciate even minimal successes achieved by fellow Nigerians under very difficult circumstances.
I understand if you don't believe that Nigerians have brains or are even aware of their surroundings. How about this assessment of the NBS by Professor Ben Kiregyera, former director of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and chairman of the Ugandan Bureau of Statistics. 'Unlike in the past, the data provided by the NBS can now serve as reference for socio-economic development strategies. The department has "moved from darkness to light. Other African countries should come to Nigeria and learn what transformation is all about."'
If you accept the World Bank's poverty figures and gladly use them to flog Nigeria into stupor, it makes sense to also trust Prof. Kiregyera (whose assessment was quoted in a 2010 report by the same World Bank which I've pasted below), unless the Ugandan professor is also an agent of Dr. Jonathan whose presidency (we're told by another oft-quoted "public intellectual") "has nothing to show for it."
South Africa Key Statistics
| Poverty headcount | 56.8% (about 51% in 1996!) |
| Poverty gap | 27.9% |
| Average annual HCE | 67 935 |
| Gini coefficient based on HCE | 0.7 |
Nigeria Transforms Statistics Bureau to Provide Reliable Economic Data
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/0,,contentMDK:22722866~menuPK:258659~pagePK:2865106~piPK:2865128~theSitePK:258644,00.html (accessed 12 April 2014).
ABUJA – October 1, 2010 -- Nigeria's National Bureau of Statistics, an institution once viewed as undependable and decaying, is now generating surveys that provide valuable insight into the country's economy, thanks to funding from the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA).
For years, the statistics department was largely unknown and undervalued and many statistics users viewed the data as unreliable and of only limited use. With help from IDA and Britain's Department for International Development (DfID), Nigeria began to transform the bureau by merging the Federal Office of Statistics and the National Data Bank to create the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Since its revamp in 2005, the NBS has conducted over 21 functional surveys and studies on Nigeria's development, focusing on areas such as employment, welfare indicators, trade, agriculture, industry and business, energy, environment, inflation and others.
The revitalization was part of the Economic Management Capacity Building Project (EMCAP) and the Economic Reform and Governance Project (ERGP) and included help from other partners such as the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the European Union (EU).
Partners also helped with providing and upgrading infrastructure and equipment; human resource management and development; and improved data production methodology, data management, dissemination and access. Attention was also placed on capacity building in statistics, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and management in order to improve the performance of all categories of staff.
NBS provides results
The precursor to the National Bureau of Statistics, the Federal Office of Statistics (FOS), was created as a government agency in 1929 but fell into decay in the 1990s due to poor government attention and funding, bad management, and out-of-date data production and management technologies. Workers suffered from low morale and productivity and a position at the FOS was often seen as punishment by civil servants.
Unlike in the past, the data provided by the NBS can now serve as reference for socio-economic development strategies. The department has "moved from darkness to light," said Professor Ben Kiregyera, former director of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and chairman of the Ugandan Bureau of Statistics. "Other African countries should come to Nigeria and learn what transformation is all about."
In addition to conducting the 21 studies since 2005, the bureau cleared all backlog of annual abstracts of statistics, Nigerian foreign trade summaries, agriculture survey reports and national accounts of Nigeria from 2000 to 2008. Since its transformation, NBS has also published and disseminated over 54 new series on different sectors of the economy. These studies, surveys, and publications are now highly valued by Nigerians and international organizations.
Goal is to be hub for statistics in Africa
The positive transformation motivated the NBS to expand its scope through the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) to cover both federal and state producers of statistics. The objective is to make the national statistical system in Nigeria one of the foremost and modern knowledge-based National Statistical Offices in Africa and the world at large. The 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory are being brought on board. Each state is expected to develop a State strategy for the Development of Statistics (SSDS) that would feed into the national strategy.
The NBS, encouraged by its success in recent years, is pushing the envelope further by creating the highly-integrated Nigerian Data Nervous System (NDNS) which would bring all data producers and user agencies together through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and connect them to the Internet.
But, these additional reforms require more investment. The total cost estimate for implementation of the NSDS stands at US$471 million for 2010 to 2014. The Nigerian government, recognizing the importance of statistics, will provide US$281 million and total donor support now stands at US$40 million. Despite these various funding options, the project still faces a financing gap of about US$140 million.
"Though we have come a long way, we still need a lot of assistance from our partners to implement the master plan and particularly the Data Nervous System which will completely transform the generation, dissemination and use of statistical products in Nigeria and Africa as a whole," said Statistician General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Bureau for Statistics Dr. Vincent Akinyosoye. "Our goal is to be a hub for statistics in Africa."
For further information on the National Bureau for Statistics, please refer to NBS web portal:
http://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/
ON OUR NEW 'GROSS DOMESTIC POVERTY' (GDP) INDEXAfis A. OladosuIndeed, He will not change the condition of a people until they change it by themselves." (Qur'an 13:11)
It appeared officers of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had the above divine ministration in mind when they set about the task of 'rebasing' the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) index of the Nigeria economy. Thus they issued a proclamation that Nigeria now has the best economy in Africa. The proclamation did this to me: it reminded me that to live in this city is to be 'assaulted', and constantly too, by news and events which makes sense only to those whose sense of "sense" usually make men and women of wisdom insensate.It was last Sunday that the news broke. But it was not last Sunday that the mill had been put to work to 'work' this out. In other words, arguments which informed the proclamation that the Nigerian economy now ranks 26th in the world, include the fact that an exercise of similar nature was last carried out in 1990. There was, therefore, the need, and an urgent one for that matter, to re-measure the 'pressure' in the 'factory' of the Nigerian economy. Lack of accurate GDP index, the NBS pundits opined, had led to the assumption that the Nigerian economy is second-rate in comparison to others in Africa including that of South Africa, Botswana and Egypt (particularly before the overthrow of the dictator, Husni Mubarak), among others. Again "rebasing the GDP" equally became necessary because the process usually "enables analysts, investors, and policy makers make informed decisions about the most appropriate infrastructure, initiatives, and investments to implement for the country".Thus the data was released on Sunday by the NBS. In doing this it recalculated the value of the GDP based on production patterns in 2010. It increased the number of industries to be measured to 46 from 33 and gave greater weighting to sectors such as telecommunications and financial services. Consequently "the revised figure makes Nigeria the 26th-biggest economy in the world!"Thus dear brethren, by 'rebasing' the GDP, our country suddenly became the "United States of Nigeria". Our nation's economy instantly overtook that of South Africa. All these have occurred, you must remember dear Sister, on paper! All these have occurred, dear brother, courtesy of the 'inimitable' power conferred on the statistician to make figures speak! All these have occurred sequel to the magic wrought by the unknowable data in the hands of economists in the corridors of power.Hurray! The Nigerian economy is now deemed to be 'better' than that of some countries in Latin America whose economy remains a source of envy for other third world economies. Our economy is now deemed to be better than that of Malaysia which has long been a producer of an home-made car since over a decade now.But we must pause and ponder another data which says sixty-one (61) percent of Nigerians live on less than a dollar a day. So what are we saying? To be circumspective of data and statistics, particularly those ones on the Nigerian economy is to be wise in a season in which folly pays.But whether the data is right or wrong does not actually matter. I am of the view that it is of no use to the ordinary Nigerians should the NBS go to town tomorrow with the declaration that the Nigerian economy has overtaken that of the United States. I thought the real issue of concern to Nigerians is who would intervene to put smiles on their haggard and grief-stricken faces.