Ogun State Bureau of Statistics, OGSBS, has inaugurated the Consultative Committee on Statistics in order to coordinate, harmonise statistical activities across all levels of government as well as promoting synergy among data producers and users.
Speaking at the inauguration and 1st bi annual meeting of the Ogun State Consultative Committee on Statistics, SCCS, which was held at the Obas complex Hall in Oke Mosan, Commissioner for Budget and Planning who doubles as Chairman Governing Board, OGSBS, Mr. Olaolu Olabimtan said that the whole idea was to bring data gatherers, collators and users under one umbrella (body) in harmonization without any unit losing its independence thereby ensuring a major boost in the State’s data driven policy.
The Commissioner said that the inauguration of the SCCS was not only a statutory obligation under the State Statistical Master Plan but also a strategic decision to domesticate and institutionalize a culture of data-driven governance at the State level adding that the SCCS was modeled after the National Consultative Committee on Statistics, NCCS, to ensure that the statistical needs of the State were properly coordinated, professionally managed and adequately aligned with the State’s developmental goals.
“Accounting Officers in MDAs have been urged to provide the leadership required to strengthen their PRS Units and institutionalize regular data reporting. Our partners in the private sectors are also encouraged to see themselves not just as data users but as contributors to the State’s data landscape”, Olabimtan noted.
He admonished the newly inaugurated SCCS to approach the task before them with diligent professionalism and a clear understanding that data was not just about numbers but about people, impact and sustainable development.
Earlier in her address, Director Research and Methodology, OGSBS, Mrs. Lara Adebayo emphasised that the establishment of the Committee was a forward thinking step by the State Government ably led by Prince Dapo Abiodun, to breach the gap between data producers and users adding that data was no longer a by-product of governance but rather an engine that drove strategic planning, transparency, accountability and measurable development.
Adebayo revealed that the committee would support the Bureau in ensuring that data production, management and disemmination were carried out accordingly and anchored on credibility, accuracy, timelines and relevance stressing that, the NCCS would serve as a chamber through which strategic feedback, policy guidance and technical alignments could be achieved in their collective quests to make Ogun the model for evidence based in decision making.
While delivering his lecture titled, “Managing the State Statistical System in Ogun State”, the First Statistician General of the Federation, Prof Vincent Akinyosoye encouraged the SCCS to use up-to-date modern technologies such as internet in diseminating official statistics as well as creating a professional monitoring and evaluation mechanism in managing it to ensure it stands out as a model for other states in Nigeria & other African countries.
