RSG Lists Data As Key To National Dev

The Rivers State Government has said that data remains the key to national development.
The Commissioner for Finance, Barrister Isaac Kamalu, said this in Port Harcourt at the World Statistical Day celebration.
Kamalu, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Mrs Titilola Cline, said the present administration in the state was committed to good governance based on public needs which can be inferred from the public data.
He said the occasion was coming at a time when data was key for decision making, and the theme: “Statistics for Sustainable Development:, was important due to dwindling resources available for government expenditure.
“Today, many economies are making huge advances using statistical science like machine learning, data science, artificial intelligence, and neutral network.
“For this, every one present from the academia are encouraged to use this medium to do more research based on data source from Rivers State”, he said.
The Statistician General of Nigeria, represented by Mr Oriokpa Vincent Ifeanyichukwu, said statistics was crucial for national planning.
He urged participants to use the opportunity to brainstorm on ways of making statistics relevant in the scheme of things.
Also speaking, the Chairman, Nigerian Statistical Association Rivers State, Mr. Peter Ucheawaji, said the celebration was key, and comes at the time when the nation was preparing for the general election, national housing and population census, and the battle to save the people from the flood disaster.
He used the occasion to call on vice chancellors and provosts of tertiary institutions to ensure statistics courses were handled by trained lecturers from the Department of Statistic rather than Mathematics.
He also called for partnership with the academic community in research and consolidating on the findings of such research for the overall development of the society.
Also speaking, Director, Department of Statistics, Manpower and Research, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Mrs Dorothy Kolawole, listed the achievements of the ministry to include pushing for the actualisation of the Rivers State Statistical Law No. 3, of 2010, production of Rivers State Statistical Year Book and the upgrading of the Department of Statistics, Manpower and Research to take off as the Rivers State Bureau of Statistics.
Represented by Mr. Samuel Nwokugha, she said the department has supported research work across the state by providing data to researchers in tertiary institutions.

By: John Bibor & Tiete Priye