W/Bank To FG: Prioritise Funding Of Statistical Surveys
The World Bank has asked the federal government to accord more importance to statistical data gathering by prioritising funding for research data for national development.
World Bank said data is too important to national development that the government should give it a front line charge in its priority list.
Country director, World Bank, Nigeria, Mr. Shubham Chaudhury made the call at a national sensitisation workshop for the Nigeria Labour Force Survey (NLFS) and National Living Standards Survey (NLSS) 2022/2023.
“I would have been happy if the World Bank was not involved in the funding of these surveys having been part of the funding of the 2018/2019 NLSS. Our continued involvement in the funding of surveys such as this gives the impression that the country does not appreciate the value of data to push in more funding to it,” Chaudhury said.
He said he could not understand why the country is wasting so much resources on fuel subsidy which does not benefit the ordinary Nigerian while neglecting critical areas such effective funding of the National Bureau of Statistics.
He praised the NBS for its consistency and for embarking on the surveys which he said will paint a clear picture of the level of the living standards in Nigeria and the employment status of the citizens.
In his speech, minister of state for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba said Nigerians should disregard the negative opinions that the present administration has thrown more people into poverty or has not made any effort to mitigate shocks arising from global challenges.
Prince Agba who was represented by Dr. Faniran Fanjor, director Social Development department in the ministry, said the gains made by this administration especially in education, health and general welfare of the people are being eroded by the global and local shocks caused by global pandemics, the Russian and Ukraine crisis, security challenges as well as climate change, with particular reference to flood and disasters in recent times.
According to him, “My advice, therefore is to focus more on the comparative analysis of economic developments in other countries to appreciate the efforts of the government of Nigeria. For example, in Ghana, Ethiopia and Uganda inflation was reported at 40.4 per
The First day of the International Financial Inclusion Conference organised by the Financial Inclusion governing committee in Nigeria culminated in a dinner and award night- ceremony at the Transcorp Hilton Congress Hall, on the 24th November 2021.
The dinner marked the end to a very engaging, insightful day and was aimed at celebrating committed and dedicated stakeholders and innovators in the financial inclusion ecosystem in Nigeria.
The event was graced by several dignitaries in the country including cent, 31.1 percent and 31 percent respectively in the month of October 2022, while the inflation figure recorded in the UK was at its highest rate of 11.1 percent compared with the rate in 1981 which is 40 years after. With this high rate of inflation in these countries, it can be said that the negative effects of household consumption and poverty levels in those countries is the minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Femi Lijadu, the chief executive officer of Brittania-U Nigeria Limited, Mr. Uju Ifejika, deputy governors, board members of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and other critical stakeholders in the financial inclusion space in the country.
Deputy governor, financial system stability said the dinner was organized for all partners and stakeholders to relax and enjoy an evening of good food, great conversation and most importantly an evening to celebrate high. This will tell us that Nigeria is progressive if you compare some of the statistics released by NBS with other countries across the globe.”
He said government will continue to support NBS in the performance of its statutory duties of churning out the right statistics that will aid policy formulation and tell the government where to focus attention. the excellence of partners who remained committed to the inclusive growth of the Nigerian economy.
Mrs. Uju Ifejika delivered the keynote remarks and provided insightful discourse on the critical importance of financial literacy as a tool to achieving Financial Inclusion. Other guest speakers including the Secretary to Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, Tallen, and the chairman of the coard of SEC all lent their voices to the importance of collaborative efforts to ensure all Nigerians were given the opportunity to be active participants in the Nigerian economy through financial inclusion.