The Critical Role of Data in Nigeria's Development: An Assessment 1. Introduction Man has moved progressively from the stone age to modern civilization. In the cause of that progression, they have been mistakes, frustrations, lessons and breakthroughs. One key component of man's progression has been the role of science. Science is organized and systematic body of knowledge aimed at verifiable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science makes use of observations, facts, figures, data and statistics. These variables are the core building blocks of science and development. In other words, societal development hinges on the premium placed on the building blocks of science. Nations that are developed today had long realized the importance and indispensability of scientific data to development. Development itself entails all the modern advances in science and technology, in democracy and social organization fused into the single humanitarian project of deliberately and cooperatively producing a better world for all (Peet and Hartwick, 2009). Development is not heavenly or magical, it is deliberately planned and executed on earth by man. But it needs critical inputs such as facts, figures, statistics or broadly speaking data. Remember that in elementary economics, we answer these questions: What to produce? How to produce? And for whom? These questions are important today as they were when they were first asked. Answers to these questions require real time data. Development planning must utilize raw data. Demography of the state i.e., total population, gender distribution, age distribution, labour force etc. Nigeria clearly have issues in this regard. For instance, census which supposed to be conducted every ten years was last conducted by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006. Nigeria was due for census in 2016. To date in 2020, Nigeria is still waiting for census that should have been conducted in 2016. Without valid census figures, where does planning begin? Population and housing census provide information for development planners: schools needed and where, housing needs, hospital needs, water needs, employment needs, available skills etc. On the flip side, Ajakaiye (2015:142) raises doubt on even the limited data that may be available in Nigeria noting, 'in an environment characterized by corrupt practices, data generated by statutory bodies are unlikely to be reliable even if the requisite skills are present in the relevant institutions. The integrity of administrative data from the MDAs may be contaminated by the perceived or real implications for budgetary allocations. The result is that the expectation that accurate and comprehensive administrative data will flow regularly from MDAs remains unfulfilled'. Nonetheless, the outbreak of Novel Corona Virus Pandemic (COVID-19) in China in the twilight of 2019, but, has now spread to nearly all nations, took the world by surprise. It has exposed Nigeria's nakedness once more. Actually, no nation seems to have been fully prepared for it. It has ravaged the w...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.