Prof. Samson Adebayo, the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC), says governments at all levels should fully utilise quality data solutions.
Adebayo gave the advice on Monday in Ilorin while delivering a lecture at the maiden public lecture organised by the Department of Statistics, Kwara Polytechnic.
He said effective use of data solutions would help in tackling societal problems in the country.
“Quality data will help in making effective and implementable public policies.”
Adebayo noted that quality data, when utilised accurately, produces positive public administration which results in efficacy, efficiency and citizen satisfaction.
“Nigeria’s leaders should try and embrace quality data. It will help governments better understand the behaviour of their constituents and enhance public services.
“Data alone are not sufficient, but data are key to assessing the performance of any policy made. When you work with data, it becomes your dashboard which you can’t do without it.
“I am calling on Nigerian leaders to imbibe the culture of ‘statistical thinking’ before embarking on any programme or policy implementation,” he said.
The professor also advised government to prioritise statistics in their plans and policies, adding that statistics enable government or any organisation to make informed and data-driven choices.
He further described statistics as the only dashboard to successfully navigating a career path as it is essential and useful in all fields of life.
The statistician also called on education stakeholders to introduce the teaching of Research Methodology as a course in higher institutions of learning.
Adebayo also called for the exposure of students to real life data so as to avail them opportunities in a competitive world.
The Second Guest Lecturer, Prof. Gafar Oyeyemi of the Department of Statistics, University of Ilorin, said statistics had been in existence since the beginning of civilisation.
Oyeyemi said the simple form of statistics were used to record the number of animals, people and others since ages.
“Statistics is a very well-known term in history, be it ancient or primitive. It is not new because no society can survive without putting statistics and data into consideration.
“The Egyptians, Chinese, Greek and some others in European countries have made use of data to analyse material wealth, population, birth, death and accidents since ages ago,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the maiden public lecture was “Statistics and You”.
The event was graced by the Polytechnic Rector, Dr Abdul Mohammed, represented by his Deputy, Alhaji AbdulRahman Isiaka.(NAN)
