Eregha: Nigeria Has Enough Data but Lacks Information to Transform Economic Growth

Kayode Tokede

Prof. Bright Eregha of the Department of Economics, Pan Atlantic University has stated that Nigeria has enough data but lacks information to transform the economic growth required to create jobs and enhance infrastructure expansion.

Eregha who was speaking at the public presentation of the book: “Nigeria in Figures: A Socio-Economic Databook,” written by an economist and Managing Director/Chief Economist, Analysts Data Services and Resources (ADSR), Dr. Afolabi Olowookere, held in Lagos, admonished political office holders to embrace data in formulating policies for the development of the country.

He expressed that policymakers often complain of lack of data, stating that unfortunately, Nigeria has a lot of administrative data across the federation.

According to him, “The only problem is that we have not been able to develop a dashboard to create, store and make intelligent of these data.”

He stated that Nigeria needed to have an intelligent unit for public and private organizations, empowered to solve administrative data for the government to form policies.

He expressed that, “Since 1999 till-date, the truth is that we have a lot of development plans and the reason these plans were not successful was because most time we find it difficult to keep track of the program and strategies that are in the baseline.”

He added that the new book on data provides an opportunity for Nigeria as a country, policymakers, and stakeholders.

The President, Africa Fintech Network, and Chairman, Board of Trustees, Fintech Association of Nigeria, Dr Segun Aina expressed that the book is aimed at contributing to economic development, stressing that it is expected to transform the thinking of people in government.

He, however, expressed optimism over the new administration, urging on policies reformation based on fundamentals, information, and data.

According to him, it is imperative for the government at all levels, especially the new administration to identify more advanced and appropriate ways of applying data in formulating socioeconomic policies to build a new Nigeria.

He pointed out that strategic use of data would enable the government to make more intelligent, real-time decisions than would have been impossible.

“This book holds a lot of promises for Nigeria. In the face of the many challenges facing the economy, this is an opportunity for the new government to look at the process of building a new Nigeria based on data.

“The book has data that the federal government and the subnational including the local government can use it to plan and make progress because if you fail to plan, you have planned to fail. It is a contribution to the government as a tool they can use to move the country forward,” he said.

Meanwhile, the author of the book stated that he was inspired to write the book, to equip policymakers with the relevant data and information to initiate socioeconomic policies, tackle the challenges of inadequate application of data in planning as well as serve as a useful guide for benchmarking and monitoring the country’s socio-economic progress.

Olowookere, who identified inadequate application of data in planning as one of the challenges facing the country, stated that it took him more than 10 years to put the book together.

“Government needs to be adequately equipped with the necessary data, information and analysis of ‘where we are, how we got here, what has been done in the past and the outcomes, what works elsewhere that can be adopted, as well as what can be done in the immediate, medium and long-term periods to grow the economy,” he added.