Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi says no meaningful development can be achieved without accurate statistical data.
The governor said this when he declared open the 43rd Annual Conference of the Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA) on Thursday in Lokoja, with the team: “Population Explosion, Statistical Views and Solutions”.
The conference which is being attended by States’ Statistical-Generals and associations from across the federation is sponsored by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Bello, represented by Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Ayoade Ayoade, attributed the success recorded in the state so far to proper statistical records.
He stressed the need for state governors to engage the services of statisticians, saying that they were professionals that could be relied on to get accurate statistical data for economic development.
Earlier, Alhaji Muhammed Tumala, a former President of the NSA emphasised the need for government agencies to train statisticians and give them definite job descriptions.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) shortly after the event, Tumala, a Director of Statistics, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said the training was critical for statisticians. This, according to him, is because they are expected to design forms to be used by other departments to record data daily.
Tumala said this was critical as such data was needed every quarter, adding that it would be aggregated. He decried the lack of capacity in the profession, adding that the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) should be able to train statisticians at all levels.
Tumala added that trained personnel should be posted by the association to the various establishments to ensure effective data recording and adherence to professional conduct.
