HOW OGUN DEPLOYED STATISTICS TO DRIVE DEVELOPMENT

HOW OGUN DEPLOYED STATISTICS TO DRIVE DEVELOPMENT

                By Pelumi Oduronbi

The aim of any solution-driven government is to solve people's problem in a sustainable way, and ensure that challenges faced by the people are correctly diagnosed, impact assessed, and verifiable data utilised, in prioritising projects in various sectors.

Often, the bane of government is the lack of proper dissection of the problem, due to the absence of reliable data, which ultimately results in shoddy implementation of projects or the implementation of projects that do not meet the needs of the people. Just like in the medical and administrative fields, identification of what the problem is, remains a major factor needed for the provision of solutions that are acceptable to all.

In the affairs of government, especially for those that champion inclusion, identifying the problem is not only an important step, using verifiable or possibly empirical data is important, as verifiable data is usually required as a compelling weapon to convince the masses about the grave danger which is imminent if any problem is ignored, or if proper support is not given to the solution proffered by government, or its agencies, to such problems.

 Also like a two-edged sword, statistics is relevant for the masses to hold government accountable on issues that bother on their welfare and wellbeing. For instance, statistics on employment can indicate the urgent need to address youth unemployment in order to prevent the situation from snowballing into insecurity and diverse social issues.

In many cases, people tend to turn against certain government efforts and projects, when they do not know the grave danger involved in ignoring such challenges, while government or organisations miss out on appreciating or evaluating the impact of their decisions on the people. This in turn brings about lacuna between the government and the people, especially when it comes to evaluating government performance.

It is the importance of getting reliable and verifiable data, that propelled the Prince Dapo Abiodun led administration, as a government of inclusion, to address the lack of a strong statistical agency in the state. In addressing the many challenges faced by the department in the past, government upgraded the Central Department of Statistics, under the Ministry of Finance, to a full fledged Bureau of Statistics, and appointed the first Statistician-General of the State.

The establishment of a strong State Bureau of Statistics (SBS) to enable it produce “good statistics” according to the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics as laid down by the United Nations. Good statistics enable Governments to pursue and achieve good governance by promoting effective development planning, intelligent policy programming and implementation, and allow for proper monitoring of policy actions as well as evaluation of policy outcomes and impacts.

The upgrade, and legal-backing given to the Bureau, through the State Bureau of Statistics Law (2012) and the Statistics (Amendment) Law 2020, has empowered it to effectively deliver on its mandate of providing official statistics about the state that are comprehensive, reliable, consistent and timely for users in and out of Government to facilitate decision-making and improve policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policy outcomes and assessment of policy impacts on the citizens.

Since its upgrade, Ogun State Bureau of Statistics has contributed to the growth of the state, ensuring that reliable data is available for government to plan, and implement various projects, within its "Building Our Future Together" agenda. The Bureau has remained committed to the effective implementation of the state budget, providing clear insight to the performance level of each Ministry, Department and Agency, as well as sectors of the economy, through the provision of relevant statistics, thereby helping in the drive of the present administration to actualise its drive to build relevant infrastructure. Statistical evidences show that the present administration has executed more roads, and housing projects than past administrations in the state, with over 600 kilometers of road across the state having been constructed or rehabilitated. 

In the health sector, the Bureau of Statistics, through Digest of Medical and Health Statistics, a special statistical publication designed for the health sector, is helping the state government to identify the number of hospitals in each local government, their capacity, and personnel as well as number of patients, records of diseases in the state, challenges and needs in the health sector, thereby helping to propel right proactive actions from government and relevant stakeholders. 

Also, as part of efforts to ensure proper planning and security of lives and property, the Bureau is also at the fore front of processing data presented to the National Population Commission, which helps the government to ascertain increase and decrease in population rates, while also providing insights into the number of migrants in the state.

Agriculture remains a key component of the ISEYA mantra of the present administration, as the sector affords the state immense opportunities for investors due to its vast arable land.  In view of this reality, the Ogun State Bureau of Statistics is playing its part in ensuring the potentials and achievements recorded within the sector are duly documented. The Bureau has continued to gather and process data on agricultural products that are produced in Ogun State, helping to identify the level of their production, increase or decrease in the produces over the years. The Bureau is also helping to address a major challenge which could have an impact on food sufficiency and food security as the effect of global warming continues to bite harder across the world. By regularly collating weather report of the state for farmers, the Bureau helps farmers in the state to know what to plant, and when to plant. This service, rendered by the Bureau, is also extended to livestock farmers through the Ministry of Agriculture. Weather forecasts by the Bureau has helped to prevent needless loss of lives and properties, as availability of timely information has ensured that necessary steps are taken by relevant government agencies, to avert and reduce the impact of flooding in the state.

No matter how beautiful or capital project-focused a budget may be, its implementation is dependent on having sufficient financial resources, especially if government can generate enough revenue to transit from a budget deficit to budget surplus. The Bureau of Statistics, is working in synergy with the Ogun State Internal Revenue Service (OGIRS), and other revenue generating agencies to improve the state revenue. The Bureau, working in partnership with OGIRS, carry out Motor Vehicle Statistics, by collating statistics on registered vehicles, as well as road traffic crashes data in the state which is necessary information to the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement (TRACE) Corps and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to plan for reduction in the rate of road traffic deaths and injuries on Ogun traffic corridors.  

The impact of the Bureau is also useful to traders in the state, many of whom have been able to benefit from the Oko'wo Dapo, a micro-credit lending scheme launched by Governor Dapo Abiodun. The Bureau's work also features rural and local market men and women in the Ogun State Market Calendar, providing information on market days and commodities as available across various markets in the state. This is designed to help market men and women and the general public make better plans for their sales and shopping needs. 

There are certainly more positive contributions attributable to the Bureau in regards to the development of the state, but chief among them is the fact that it will continue to keep the government on its toes to continually surpass past achievements, while also promoting inclusion, as entailed in the "Building Our Future Together" agenda.