Building Capacity Of Journalists In Statistics Reporting

L-R: General Manager, Rivers State Broadcasting Corporation (RSBC), Medline Tador, Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Rivers State Council, Mr Opaka Dokubo and General Manager, Rivers State Television (RSTV), Mr Tonye Ekong, during BBC media chart at Land Mark Hotel, Port Hacourt, recently. Photo: Prince Obinna Dele

Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, defines statistics as the study of the collection, organisation, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data.

A statistician is someone who is particularly well-versed in the application of statistics in varied, specific analyses.

Statisticians, however, increase their expertise via working in various fields and their importance in human endeavours somewhat made the United Nations (UN) to create a section — the UN Statistics Division (UNSD) — to assist countries in efforts to strengthen their national statistical systems.

The field of statistics is considered to be fundamental to human development activities and this awareness compelled the UN to fix October 20 as the World Statistics Day to strengthen public awareness of the important duties of statisticians in human endeavours.

However, observers maintain that the media have a critical role to play in promoting the importance of statistics in all national planning and development processes.

They, nonetheless, bemoan the perceived low level of advocacy and the lack of statistical culture in the society, as journalists, in particular, have little or no understanding of the methodological processes of data gathering, which are considered central to statistical information reporting.

Some concerned observers particularly bemoan the non-exposure of Nigerian journalists to the recent statistical products produced by the Nigerian Statistical System (NSS).

They note that the journalists have little idea of the importance and application of such products in planning, policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes and projects.

Concerned by the development, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in collaboration with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), recently organised a three-day national statistical workshop for journalists in Jos.

The workshop was meant to educate Nigerian journalists on how to use statistical information in their reportage, while stimulating their collaboration in statistical production.

Speaking at the workshop, Dr Yemi Kale, the Statistician-General of the Federation, noted that the NBS designed the programme to educate journalists on how to use statistical information in their stories.

Kale, who was represented by Mr George Oparaku, the Director (Real Sector and Household Statistics) of the NBS, said that the bureau considered the workshop’s organisation imperative in view of the journalists’ roles in the society.

“In essence, the workshop is part of the programme designed to carry the media along in the task of statistical production.

“The purpose of the workshop is to sensitise journalists on the importance of statistical products so as to enhance their application for planning, policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes and projects,’’ he said.

Kale stressed that Nigeria particularly required robust and reliable statistics to enable it to monitor progress made in efforts to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The statistician-general, however, said that the Federal Government had designed a five-year plan from 2010 to 2014 to evolve a comprehensive National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS).

Kale said that the NSDS was intended to cover the country’s statistical system entirely, while bringing together all the relevant agencies across the country.

In his remarks, Gov. Jonah Jang of Plateau decried the use of falsified information in governments’ development plans.

Represented by Mr John Daduut, the Chairman of Plateau State Planning Commission, the governor said that there must be reliable and timely information to address the poverty situation in the country in particular.

“As you are all aware, efforts at poverty reduction are at the centre of government’s economic programmes.

“But this can only be realised when there is a clear understanding of the status of poverty in Nigeria,’’ he said.

Jang reiterated the state government’s determination to entrench a system that would eliminate the wrong attitude of falsifying information in development plans.

“We have already begun the process of reforming the state’s statistical system to enable it to cope with emerging challenges.

“The state’s statistical master plan, which will drive the reform process, has been produced and an executive bill to the state House of Assembly on the establishment of Plateau State Bureau of Statistics is being prepared,’’ he said.

Jang stressed that the society’s progress and development could never be attained if information on specific areas of need was falsified.

He pledged that the state government would revamp its statistical agency and provide it with all the necessary support to discharge its responsibilities of providing reliable socio-economic statistics for policy formulation, execution, monitoring and evaluation.

In his paper entitled “Current Statistical Survey and Programmes’’, Oparaku, the NBS director, called on journalists to uphold statistical laws.

He said that the Statistical Act of 2007 discouraged conflicts and duplications in statistical information.

According to him, the act empowers the NBS to coordinate statistical operations in the country and adopt consistent methodologies, in line with the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics.

Oparaku stressed that that the formulation and implementation of government policies would require a lot of data to achieve meaningful results.

“It is important to mention here that the media will be expected to play a critical role in promoting the importance of statistics in planning and national development,’’ he said.

The Director of the Legal Unit of the NBS, Mrs Yuonne Odu-Thomas, however, said that any statistical information released to the public without the input of the NBS was unofficial.

In a paper entitled “Strengthening the National Statistical System: The Legal Perspective’’, Odu-Thomas said that although different organisations could conduct surveys, the results would remain invalid if the NBS was not involved.

She stressed that using statistical data wrongly or using wrong information was criminal, adding that legal actions could be instituted against offending individuals or organisations under the Statistical Act of 2007.

Odu-Thomas said that the Act provided an institutionalised framework for NSS and the NBS to reposition and strengthen the entire statistical system.

She said that the framework was aimed at collecting, compiling and analysing statistical information on all spheres of life.

In a paper entitled “The Media as a veritable Partner in Statistical Production’’, Mr Tola Akinmutimi, the Assistant Editor of a daily newspaper, called for the recognition of journalists as key stakeholders in the national statistical system.

He urged the NBS to involve journalists in statistical surveys, while sponsoring them to attend international conferences and workshops on statistics so as to enable them to have a better understanding of the issues involved in statistical production.

Akinmutimi urged the bureau to redefine its media relations by carrying journalists along in its task of processing data and disseminating statistical information.

He particularly stressed the need for regular interactions between the media and the NBS to improve working relationship.

All the same, the journalists who participated at the workshop called for increased funding from the three tiers of government to improve the NSS.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the workshop, it was recommended that government at all levels should increase funding of statistical activities to engender a robust national statistical system.

The workshop participants also recommended the enactment of enabling laws in order to have a dynamic national statistical system.

They, nonetheless, urged the NBS to be more proactive in efforts to supply the public with accurate and timely statistical information.

The participants also advised journalists to always verify official statistics from the NBS before disseminating reports, stressing that the media and the NBS ought to have an avenue for regular interactions via press briefings, workshops and conferences.

For consistent and coordinated statistical production and dissemination, the participants underscored the need for stronger collaboration among ministries, departments, agencies, the NBS and the media.  Abdulwahab is of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Abdullahi Abdulwahab