BusinessDay 12 Dec 2017

20 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Tuesday 12 December 2017
EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC SERVICE AWARDS
Enhancing timeliness of data and data credibility
Yemi Kale, Statistician-General
of the Federation and Chief
Executive Officer of the National
Bureau of Statistics,
holds a B.Sc. in Economics
(First class honours) from Addis Ababa
University, Ethiopia, M.Sc. (with distinction)
and Ph.D. in Economics from the
London School of Economics and Political
Science.An alumnus of the Harvard
Kennedy School of Government, Kale
worked as an equity analyst at Goldman
Sachs and for several years as a quantitative
analyst at Merrill Lynch Financial
Services from where he became Group
Head of Research and Investment Strategy
at Investment Banking and Trust
Company Plc. (now Stanbic IBTC Bank
plc) where he was credited for developing
and deepening the practise of investment
research in Nigeria and leading to him
winning the 2009 African Investor award
for African Research Analysts of the year.
Later, he held the position of Special
Adviser to the Minister of Finance and
subsequently, Technical Adviser to the
Minister of National Planning. He was
later appointed Statistician General of the
Federation and Chief Executive Officer of
the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics
(NBS) in 2011 and became the first chief
executive of the NBS to be reappointed
for a second term when his tenure was
renewed by President Buhari in 2016.
Kale is a fellow of the Nigerian Statistical
Association and a fellow of the
Institute of Chartered Administrators and
Researchers of Nigeria among others. At
the National Bureau of the Statistics he
has been applauded by both Nigerian
and foreign observers from his reforms
in the data process which many believe
has restored sanity to the data production
process in Nigeria. Kale is commended
for introducing methodology updates,
some decades old, using modern technology
such as Computer Assisted Personal
Interview Devices to gather data and improving
platforms for data dissemination
including a data portal, upgraded website
and App and the use of infographics
to make data easily understandable by
users.
Under him timeliness of data, data
quantity and quality has been greatly
enhanced and data credibility improved
significantly. He is highly regarded for his
fierce refusal to tamper with data or rejection
of the politicization of data which has
gained him recognition from both pro and
anti-governments stakeholders as well as
the international community. In August
2016 he declared that Nigeria’s economy
had entered into a recession, the first
time in 25 years with record high inflation
and unemployment rates despite the fact
that his tenure was up for renewal about
the same period. Kale was awarded the
National Productivity Order of Merit for
outstanding performance, professionalism
and diligence in February 2017 by the
Nigerian President Muhammad Buhari.
He has also received several other awards
personally or on behalf of the NBS for
integrity and professionalism including
the first ever SERVICOM award for public
Yemi Kale
Statistician-General of the Federation/
Chief Executive Officer,
National Bureau of Statistics
sector excellence, the Financial Writers
Association Award and the LCCI award
as best public service institution for 2016
amongst others.
He is currently the chairman of the
National Consultative Committee on Statistics
(NCCS) and a member of the Economic
Management Team (EMT) as well
as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary
Policy Committee. He recently served on
the Presidential Standing Committee on
Job Creation, National Steering Committee
on 2nd Peer Review of Nigeria, as well
as the Executive Committee of PARIS21
of the OECD. Kale is a fellow of the Royal
Statistical Society (UK) and member of
the World Economics Association, the
Royal Economic Society (UK) and the
Nigerian Statistical Association. He has
written widely on fiscal and monetary
policy, governance, finance and economic
development in Africa.
List of Successful Activities Completed
Comprehensive Methodology Review
– Over the past 5 years we have completed
several methodological reviews to ensure
data produced at NBS is up to date, in-line
with international best practice and fits
local peculiarities. Some of the completed
exercise include-
Gross Domestics Product (GDP) Rebasing
Exercise – This was completed in
2014 and was the first to be undertaken in
Nigeria after 27 years. The main objective
of the exercise was to reflect the significant
changes in the structures of the Nigerian
economy over time. This exercise
captured previously unreported sectors
of the economy such as Telecommunications,
ICT, Arts and Entertainment and
many more. The new GDP estimates now
reflect more accurately, the value and
volume of economic activities in Nigeria,
both in the formal and informal sectors.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) Methodology
Review - NBS has also been
completed the reweighting the Consumer
Price Index (CPI). The previous
CPI weights were based on expenditures
reported on the Nigerian Living Standards
Survey (NLSS) conducted from October
2003 through September 2004. This implied
that the CPI weights over 10 years
old. This has now been updated based on
the 2009/2010 Harmonized National Liv-
ing Standard Surveys to give a more updated
representation of Nigerian weights.
In addition, NBS has also reviewed the
market basket of goods to ensure that the
goods in the basket are more representative
of consumer patterns.
Labour Force Methodology Review
–A committee was set up to review
the hour definition of unemployment in
Nigeria and the methodology for computing
unemployment rate. Previously,
NBS used 40 hours a week as a cut-off
as opposed to 1hour used by the International
Labour Organisation (ILO). The
committee which consist of all relevant
stakeholders in the labour sector completed
its work and the recommendations
have been ratified, adopted and is
currently in use.
Completion of Previously Abandoned
Harmonised Living Standard
(Poverty) Survey 2009/2010 – This
5-yearly exercise was a comprehensive
national wide survey conducted in
2009/2010 but was abandoned due to
certain reasons in2010. However, given
the high importance of this exercise,
on assumption of Office, we mobilised
the necessary resources and completed
the exercise. Without this effort, Nigeria
would have been the only country with
the most outdated poverty statistics in
Africa.
Introduction of Computer Assisted
Interviewing System (CAPI) – We have
gradually completed the switch from using
paper questionnaires for data collection
to using electronic devices. They have
proved to be more efficient and cheaper
in the long-run, providing better data
quality and reduced survey completion
times. CAPI devices are presently being
used in 2 major ongoing household
surveys.
Enhanced Dissemination Strategy
-NBS has experienced some transformation
to cope with increasing demand for
robust and reliable statistics for planning,
policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation
of Government programs, policies
and projects. The revamped website is
user friendly with various applications
and features. Some of these include –
Online Data Portal, which has a wide
range of functionalities; such as data
analysis, mapping and reports functions,
enabling users to access the data in customized
formats suited to their needs.
This is the first for any African Statistical
Agency.
The eLibrary is another feature which
hosts extensive historical socio-economic
reports readily accessible to users worldwide.
The National Statistical System (NSS)
tool is one which enhances the efficiency
of our system of administrative statistics.
It enables Ministries Departments and
Agencies (MDAs) at the Federal, state
and local government levels to send
information to NBS online. Each MDA,
having a unique identification, can forward
information on a more regular basis,
cutting cost in the process and increasing
efficiency.
The Virtual Statistical System
(VSS) is also another tool available on the
revamped NBS website. The objective of
the VSS is to provide well-structured access
to relevant statistical information for
developing countries and other interested
parties, providing basic information on a
wide range of statistical topics.
The Data Release Calendar toolis a new
function introduced. This function gives
details of expected data releases, telling
users the dates the data is expected and in
the process helping them plan according.
There is also an Events function which
provides details of ongoing data production
activities in NBS. This provides details
of what the activity is, for example the
name of the survey, the scope and coverage,
and the objective of it.
Several other applications include
Social Networking tools such as Twitter,
Facebook and YouTube targeted at the
younger generation, and an Opinion Polls
application.
Increase in the Number of Statistical
Output – In the last 5 years the
number of statistical output has grown
significantly, from publishing under 50
outputs in 2011, NBS is now producing
and disseminating over 300 publications
annually, 309 in 2015.
Inclusion in the Economic Management
Team (EMT) – NBS for the first time
in its history is now regularly invite to
attend the EMT, providing regular useful
and valued data and analysis on the state
of the nation’s economy for policy design
and evaluation.
Enhanced National and International
Profile of the Bureau – The
profile of NBS has grown significantly
over recent times, both domestically
and internationally. Thus, NBS is now
recognised and sits of several Boards of
International Statistical Organisations
such as the Partnership for Statistical in
the 21st Century (PARIS 21), The Chair
of the Committee of African Statistician
Generals as well as a member of the Board
of the Multidimensional Poverty Peer
Network (MPPN).
Accreditation of NBS’ Federal
School of Statistics Manchok - Federal
School of Statistics Manchok has been
accredited to offer Ordinary National
Diploma Certification, the first for any
statistical agency in Africa.
Conduct of the First Global Adult
Tobacco Survey inAfrica – We successfully
completed the first ever Global Adult
Tobacco Survey in Africa in 2013, NBS is
now the lead Statistical Agency providing
technical support to other countries
for the conduct of this exercise as well as
many others.
Establishment of 19 New State Statistical
Agencies – Over the last 5 years,
we have worked with and supported state
governments and other partners to establish
19 new state SSAs to aid the development
of statistics at the sub-national level.
Establishment of a Forum of State
Statistician Generals – We have formed
a Committee of Statistician Generals
which meets quarterly to discuss statistical
matters and ongoing activities to
exploit opportunities for synergy.