Poor Funding Affecting Nigeria’s Statistical System- NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics has blamed the slow pace of development of the Nigerian Statistical System on poor funding of statistical activities.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NBS, Dr Yemi Kale made the disclosure on Monday during the two- day 2020 National Consultative Committee on Statistics meeting in Akwanga, Nasarawa State.

The NBS boss said, “It is quite clear that low funding for statistical activities remains a major challenge to the development of the Nigerian Statistics System.”

The CEO of the NBS called for continued investment in data and statistical production by the stakeholders.

According to him, the move would ensure that Nigeria’s statistical institutions remain relevant, responsive and effective.

Kale said the NBS as the coordinator of the Nigeria Statistical System has continued to work tirelessly to meet its statutory mandate.

He pointed out that the Bureau was working to meet the ever-growing demand for data to make evidence-based decisions despite a low statistics funding environment.

The NBS boss admitted the country was still behind its target, adding “we have made significant strides and improvements in many areas of our work.”

Kale said, “Despite funding and COVID-19 pandemic disruptions, we still produced over 120 different statistical reports with over 1,000 indicators, we still logged over 800,000 visits to our website, and recorded over 170,000 downloads for the published reports.”