Nigeria Cannot Achieve SDGs Without Good Use Of Statistics – NBS Tells MDAs

The National Bureau of Statistics has said that the poor use of statistics by Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs), may hinder federal government’s effort to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.

The NBS disclosed this on Thursday in a keynote address delivered by the Statistician General of the Federation (SGF), Yemi Kale.

The address was to kick off a 2-day Capacity building workshop on ‘Sustainable Development Goals Reporting Format on Administrative Statistics in Nigeria.’

The SGF in his address said that over 60% of the data needed for the monitoring of the SDGs would come from Administrative Statistics, adding that poor data production among government agencies would pose a huge challenge.

He said that the aim of the workshop was to enable MDAs and other stakeholders understand and achieve the need for a standardized reporting format, adding that it would help the country achieve the SDGs by 2030.

Kale faulted the poor progress of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for “lack of comprehensive, up-to- date and harmonized data monitoring progress and success recorded for some of the targets and indicators as well as ineffective sensitization and training of officers, that would have driven the process to a desired status.”

He said to avoid a repeat, “concerted efforts are being made to strengthen the System of Administrative Statistics in the MDAs and other government Agencies.”

The 2030 agenda set by United Nations (UN) contains 17 Sustainable Development Goals expected to guide government policies.