The Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Bassey Eno, has commended the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for its sustained drive towards standardization of Nigeria’s statistical system in line with global best practice.
The governor commended the management of the statistics agency for the ongoing transformation of the statistical system at the Southern States Stakeholders’ Workshop on the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) Phase III, 2024-2028, which was flagged off on Sunday, November 19, at Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital
He said: “I commend the National Bureau of Statistics, especially the Statistician-General of the Federation for his giant stride to modernize not only National but State Statistical System to enable production of official statistics that all stakeholders would rely on for their respective programme and projects.”
The Governor described the selection of Akwa Ibom State as the venue of the stakeholders’ forum for the South-South zone as timely and aligned with the ongoing efforts to establish a modernized Akwa Ibom State Bureau of Statistics (AK-SBS).
Eno, pointed out that as a stakeholder in the statistical system, he felt highly honoured to host the forum, which, he said, held great potential for the development of sub-national statistical system of the South-South states.
Describing credible statistics as a veritable tool for good governance, the Governor advised all participants at the workshop to contribute diligently to the new NSDS, in order to address gaps and challenges hindering the production of unified data that accurately reflects current emerging realities in our society.
In his keynote address at the event, the Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the NBS, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, identified five guiding principles that would enable the effective crafting of the new statistics strategy.
According to him, the principles include Inclusivity, Quality and Accuracy, Innovation and technology, Capacity Building, Partnership and Collaboration.
Adeniran stressed the vital need for a robust strategy to guide the growth and development of the nation’s statistical system for efficient planning and implementation of developmental policies and programmes,
Earlier in his welcome address, the State Director of Statistics, Mr Peter Akpan, said that emerging realities continued to show that credible data remained crucial to good governance at national and sub-national levels in the country.
He, therefore, canvassed the need for concerted efforts by stakeholders in modernizing the sub-national and national statistical systems through the designing of the internationally recognized framework, the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS).
