PRESS BRIEFING BY THE STATISTICIAN-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS, DR. YEMI KALE HELD AT THE CONFERENCE ROOM, 5TH FLOOR, NBS HEADQUARTERS, CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT, ABUJA ON MONDAY, 13TH FEBRUARY, 2012.
PREAMBLE
2. It is with great pleasure that I present to you today, highlights of the “Nigeria Poverty Profile Report 2010”, a report which emerged from the recently concluded Harmonised
Nigeria Living Standard Survey (HNLSS) conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) with support from the World Bank, DFID (UK) and UNICEF.
3. As part of its functions to produce statistics for evidence-based policy-making and as the authoritative source and custodian of all official statistics, NBS periodically conducts the Harmonized Nigeria Living Standard Survey which is used, amongst other things, to determine poverty and inequality trends in Nigeria. The data collected by NBS through our regular surveys and via our system of administrative statistics around the country present a vital source of evidence, as they provide us with clear, objective, numerical data on all aspects of our lives and the state of our country. NBS has presence in every state of the federation with staff who collect data on various socioeconomic indicators on a regular basis to fulfill our mandate. This way we are able to monitor various trends across the country at a disaggregated level. To demonstrate that NBS remains committed to improving statistical development in Nigeria, the institutional capacity to deliver on its mandate is being strengthened regularly with increased levels of collaboration between NBS and our partners in the public and private sectors, including the press.
4. In recognition of the fact that it is impossible, given limited financial resources, to collect data on every area of life, we are ensuring that the data collected by NBS is demand-driven and user-specific. Concomitantly, we are expanding our scope to include more aspects of socio-economic life, deepening our analytical competence and enhancing the professionalism of staff. A recent innovation is to announce, in advance, the expected dates of publication of survey results and data releases, which can be found on the official website. For example, a visit to our website at www.nigerianstat.gov.ng would reveal that we plan to publish inflation data for January 2012, the first since the partial removal of fuel subsidy, next Monday. The planned dates of release for other types of data can be found on the website.
5. As you may have observed our data releases have been mixed: some positive and others negative. We would therefore continue to publish accurate and timely data
regardless of whether it is positive or negative because the information we provide is useful as a guide for government policy, business investors, as well as a veritable tool for the public to evaluate the performance of government and the progress of our society in the interest of growth and development in Nigeria.
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