Alhaji Mohammed Tumala, Director Statistics Department, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says a Central data storage will make the country’s data unique thereby, attracting foreign investors.
Tumala, also a former president of the Nigerian Statisticians Association (NBA), made this known in an interview in Lokoja.
He spoke on the sideline of the recently concluded 43rd annual conference of NBA in Lokoja.
Tumala said having a central data storage would make data from Nigeria unique and accurate to any one who wanted to use it.
“You cannot converge data because Nigeria’s statistical system set up by the Statistics Act, established a decentralised statistical system,” he said.
He explained that with a coordinating authority, what the NBA does was to collate cross cutting data where no line ministry or government agency may have direct interference with the process.
“But the system we abducted is that a line ministry should be responsible first with the production of data in its own jurisdiction.
“So, the ministry of Education for instance is expected to put in place a process and drive same, collating education data.
“Other ministries are expected to do same and such data is to be forwarded to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“Those organisations that have the primary responsibilities of collating data should forward same to the NBS.
“So, instead of harmonisation, what we need is a central storage so that anyone who uses Nigeria’s data gets it from one source and therefore, has a unique data,” he said.
Tumala, however, advised that standards should be defined in the process.
(NAN)
