Survey report launched yesterday in Abuja by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in collaboration with the World Bank, revealed also the resilience of Nigerians in times of economic shocks.

Speaking at the launch of the survey report in Abuja, World Bank Country Director, Ms Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, lauded the efforts made by Nigeria through NBS to improve the statistical system. She also reiterated the support of World Bank and other development partners to continue to support the country’s effort in the development of reliable data to enhance effectiveness of policies.

Speaking at the occasion, the Statistician General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, said that NBS would soon embark on updating the data on the census of commercial and industrial entities and a national agricultural sample census.

“NBS will, for the first time in over 20 years, conduct an update on the national census of commercial and industrial businesses and national agricultural sample census, which have been over due for decades.

“We are exploring for the first time in our history completing these projects using these CAPI devices,” he said, adding that the bureau would soon release the rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report.

Kale said the NBS has completed its work on the exercise, noting that the figures are currently being validated internally and externally.

“We have finished the work and we are doing our internal validation, which we should finish hopefully by the end of this week. Then we will have our external validation with our technical partners – the World Bank, IMF and those who are working with us.

“We want this to be very transparent and we don’t care whether the number is positive or negative. So when we finish our internal and external validation, then we will make it public like we’ve always done,” he explained.

The Statistician General also noted that the completion of the General Household Survey (GHS) panel was very crucial because it is coming at a period when there is increasing focus on demand for data and statistical information.

GHS, he said, is used to prepare sectoral and national plans, projects and programmes and evaluate governance, monitor progress and effectively implement the national development strategies particularly President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda and the Vision 20:2020.

According to him, Nigeria as a nation is faced with many developmental challenges in the areas of health, education, security, governance, among others, and measuring the success or otherwise of these interventions and initiatives can only be substantiated by accurate and reliable data.

He also disclosed that the NBS would, for the first time in 20 years, conduct an update on the National Census of Commercial and Industrial Businesses (NCCIB) and the National Agricultural Sample Census (NASC), which have been long overdue for decades exploring for the first time the use of the Computer Assisted Personal Interview Application.