COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION WITHIN THE NIGERIAN STATISTICAL SYSTEM S. B. Harry National Bureau of Statistics

 OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION  Introduction  Need for coordination and collaboration  Statistical Administration in Nigeria  Structure of statistical operations in Nigeria  Coordination and Collaboration within the National Statistical System  Coordination and Collaboration at State level  Coordination within the Sector  Instruments driving coordination and collaboration process in Nigeria  Challenges  Conclusion

3  What is a system? A system is a network of things, agents etc. connected or working towards a given objective/output. What is a Statistical System?  Data producers  Data users  Data suppliers  Training institutions State Statistical System  Introduction

4  Data Producers Data Producers –State Bureau of Statistics –PRSDs in state ministries and parastatals –LGAs Statistics Units Roles of Data Producers  Ensure provision of continuous flow of high quality accessible statistical data  Introduction…

5  Data Users No customers, no Business; We are in business only to satisfy customers. Without them, the system cannot be sustained. Statistical users include:  Policy makers  Politicians  Researchers  Students  NGOs  Private sector organisations  International organisations  The media  The general public  Introduction…

6 Data users Roles  Data users are expected to play upstream roles in the development of a Statistical System Advancing a common understanding of policy issues and related data requirements Setting data priorities Dialoguing with Producers on best ways of data presentation  Introduction…

7  Data Suppliers  Households  Individuals within specified organisations  Establishments/Institutions  Cooperate with data collectors and agencies in supplying accurate data on request. Role of Data Suppliers  Introduction…

8  Training Institutions  Play major roles in capacity building in the relevant areas/professions required in the SSS  Help to develop new methods for statistical analysis  Introduction…

9  An Effective SSS  Will raise the profile of statistics and make them visible in government and society  Play Statistical advocacy  Promote a culture of evidence-based planning and decision making  Provide good quality statistics  Make the statistics readily accessible and usable by a range of users  Create demand for statistics  Introduction…

10  Characteristics of an Effective State Statistical System  Upholding the fundamentals principles of official statistics  Independence to protect credibility and integrity of the official statistics  Relevance which refers to the appropriateness or comprehensiveness of statistical products  Credibility (professionalism, transparency)  Respondent relations  Introduction…

 Need for Coordination and Collaboration  The need for effective coordination and collaboration of statistical activities has been in the front burner globally.  In Nigeria, with the placement of statistics in the concurrent legislative list, statistical services prerogative falls within the functions of the Federal State Local Government Councils Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs), and The Organized Private Sector  Thus, emergence of myriads of agencies producing statistics at these level made coordination and collaboration inevitable

 The Statistical Act, 2007 empowers the National Bureau of Statistics, the National Statistics Office (NSO) in Nigeria to coordinate statistical activities across governmental boundaries and amongst Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)  So many Agencies involved in the production of statistics either through censuses, surveys or administrative records and therefore needed to be coordinated in order to have an effective National Statistical System (NSS) which will ensure unified data production  This called for the need for a developed culture of networking and information sharing among stakeholders in the NSS.  Need for Coordination and Collaboration…

 Serious challenge posed by decentralisation Informed the need for entrenchment of a well established, formal and institutionalised arrangement for coordination and collaboration among key institutions involved in the production of statistics  Coordination and Collaboration necessitated by scarcity of skilled statistical manpower scarcity of resources burden placed on respondents The need for integrated products The need for a single coordination centre Single repository of data Reduction in the cost accessing data The desire to have easy flow of information, access to information and availability of comprehensive, timely and reliable data at minimal cost.  Need for Coordination and Collaboration…

 Thus, effective coordination, collaboration, networking and information sharing in the NSS brings about prevention of duplication of efforts which often leads to inconsistent data and wasteful utilization of resources, achieving of synergy and cost-effectiveness in the utilization of scarce resources, avoiding working at cross-purposes, non- complementary work and rivalry, and Generally producing higher quality data.  Need for Coordination and Collaboration…

 Statistical Administration in Nigeria  Nigeria maintains a Federal system of Government (Federal, State and Local Government Councils)  Thus, there should be coordination and Collaborative arrangement to cover Time frame for conducting major statistical surveys Development of statistical system conforming to the new socio-economic trends Guidelines for statistical operations Maintenance of a common budget Promotion of production and usage of statistical data Timely publication of statistical survey results Quality of the statistical personnel in all Agencies periodic re-examination of statistical standards including statistical classification and promotion of international cooperation. Maintenance of confidentiality of statistical products Design and adoption of strategy for statistical development

 Structure of statistical operations in Nigeria  The system of statistical operations in Nigeria derives from development in the relevant laws over time  In the 1940s up to the early 1960s before the establishment of regional statistical outfits the then FOS acted as a monopoly The entire system was centralised  The system continued to change with expansion in government from three (3) regions to 12, 19, 21, 30, and to the present 36 States plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and 774 Local  In the 1960s and late 1970s Statistical Units in MDAs emerged This necessitated the need for effective coordination by the apex statistical agency  Awareness of the value of administrative statistics informed the establishment of PRSDs by Decree 43 of 1988 in Ministries, Department & Agencies (MDAs)

 Structure of statistical operations in Nigeria….  Hitherto what existed was a pooling system with FOS coordinating This guaranteed harmonization of policies and programmes, standardization of methods and concepts and also ensured optional use of scarce human resources  However, with Decree 43, all agencies became independent in their operations The resultant effect was emergence of various agencies producing statistics at their respective levels lack of uniformity in statistical production as every thing depended on the desires of the officer supervising the outfit.

 Structure of statistical operations in Nigeria….  Thus, the structure of the statistical system in Nigeria is such that At the Federal level, there exists NBS and its branches in states and Zonal Offices National Population Commission and its State branches. Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical branches of Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) Research Units of Tertiary Institutions At State level, The Central Statistics Office or State Statistical Agency Statistical branches of State Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) At the Local Government Level, The Statistics Unit located at the Local Government Council

 Coordination and Collaboration within the National Statistical System  The numerous advantages derivable from coordination and collaboration propelled the formation of the NCCS to perform the following functions as stipulated in the Statistical Act, 2007: examining the Statistical Programmmes of the various agencies annually in order to have a coordinated Statistical programme reviewing and advise on conditions of service and the training of personnel developing strategies which will ensure uniform standards and methodology amongst the various agencies with a view to improving on the quality, comparability and timeliness of their statistical output

 Coordination and Collaboration at the state level  Coordination at the State level requires a Coordinating Committee called State Consultative Committee on Statistics comprising The SG, SBS as Chairman D (PRSDs) of MDAs Heads of Statistics of Local Government Statistics Unit OPS CSOs Community Based Organizations (CBOs) Etc.  To carry similar functions as those of NCCS

SSAs PRSD OF MDAs Micro & Small CBOs NBS CLOs LGA Statistical Units  Coordination and Collaboration at the state level

 Coordination and Collaboration within a Sector  PRSDs saddled with the responsibility of collecting both internal and sectoral Statistics within the Ministry  MDA Coordinating Committee called Sector Statistics Consultative Committee Membership includes Director PRS in the Ministry, Representatives of Departments within the Ministry, Director PRSD of Parastatals and Extra-Ministerial Departments affiliated to the Ministry Coordination of Internal Statistics within the MDA should take the form as illustrated below:

 Coordination of Internal Statistics within the MDA Hon. Commissioner SBS

 The development of Statistical Year Book (SYB) Templates  The design of the SSMP  The Use of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)  Institutionalisation of Statistical Manpower Development Arrangement  Development of Survey Instruments  Deployment of Modern Information and Communication Technology  Instruments driving coordination and collaboration process at the State level

National Statistical Year Book Template NSYB NC Zone NW Zone SW Zone SE Zone SS Zone NE Zone States

Networking  Established Local Area Network (LAN) in the Headquarters and the Zonal Offices as well as a Wide Area Network (WAN) to link the Zones to Abuja.(LAN)(WAN)  Through this process Data processing and exchange will then be fully on-line.  NBS VPN for state SSAs  A Municipal Area Network (MAN) is also being planned to connect all MDAs in Abuja to NBS.(MAN)  LAN in each sector MDA

 Poor funding  Slow pace of statistical development in some Arms of the system  Apathy towards statistics  Uncooperative attitudes of some Agencies  Lack of deployment of modern ICT infrastructure  Challenges

 Conclusion  The importance of coordination and collaboration in statistical production in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized  Coordination efforts so far made highly commendable SYB Compendium NSDS SSMP Deployment of ICT ETC  The NSS must embrace the principles of coordination and collaboration so as to achieve maximum results  NCCS and the State Consultative Committees should more functional and effective so as to ensure maintenance of synergy amongst agencies involved in statistical production.

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