Nigeria must prioritise the independence of statistical agencies, ensure adequate funding, improve data collection methodologies, enhance transparency, and promote data-driven policies
STATISTICS should help settle arguments, in theory. We assume they provide stable reference points that everyone – no matter what their opinion, persuasion, belief, or politics is– can agree on. However, there has been a global trend in recent years showcasing that divergent levels of trust in statistics have become one of the fundamental schisms that have opened up in both developed and developing democracies.
Third, political interference in statistical processes and institutions can compromise the independence and neutrality of statistical data. This leads to a lack of trust in the data provided by both government and non-governmental agencies. This explains my excitement and interest in participating in the workshop organised by National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, on a national strategy for the development of statistics, and it was indeed an eye-opener. The organisers, NBS, paper presenters, panellists and participants did well. It was a robust and thought-stimulating engagement. After the workshop, I took away five main lessons about Nigeria, Nigerians, and statistics.
The third lesson is the problem of fragmentation of statistics. This has caused us so much harm and has continued to harm our quest for development than we know. Different unreliable statistics from various sources have eroded the public confidence in data and diminished the value of statistics. The average Nigerian does not believe in whatever statistics is churned out, and it is, therefore, not a basis in real terms to solve problems or measure progress.
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