NIGERIA’S DATA SECTOR NEGLIGENCE

How much longer should we keep on having this discussion ??

“One can only cure a sickness which he understands”.

The above statement is a self-explanatory message used to express the need to first understand a problem before trying to solve it.

So why I did bring that up?

As we all know Nigeria has so many problems, but how abysmal are they?.
If you don’t have an answer to that question, then ask yourself these questions:

• What is the current unemployment rate in the country
• Is Nigeria’s population really 190 million
• What’s is the country’s annual birth rate

These questions are just a few out of many, but one thing that remains certain is that these questions can’t be answered correctly because of improper information management and the negligence of the data sector in Nigeria.

The NBS (National Bureau of statistics) doesn’t even
have an accurate number of primary schools in Nigeria, how then do we know the areas with less number of schools? What’s the ratio like ( children and schools ).

How many hospitals do we have in some certain regions?.

Damm! this is actually worst because without
knowing any of these metrics, it undermines
performance, efficiency, productivity, and well-being.

How long do we have to raise alarms over the lack of consistent data and statistics in the country?

Worse still the government doesn’t seem to be concerned about accurate and consistent information management in the country. Most statistical figures are either fabricated or guessed.

So I ask again “how bad are Nigeria’s problems”

Who knows, we might just be sitting on a time bomb.

SUMMARY:
Although Nigeria’s problems are partially created by bad governance, even a good government would find it difficult to address the core issues or
problems if proper information management and the data sector is not prioritized.

How much longer Naija.