By ABUBAKAR YUSUF

Nigeria has become the first country in Africa to align its national statistical system with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This feat was attained on Tuesday following the launch of the baseline report and realignment of the National Statistical System with SDGs, 2020 in Abuja.

The Report was produced by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, OSSAP-SDGs, the National Bureau of Statistics and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who officially launched the scientific document also assured of Federal Government’s commitment to providing sustained relevant statistical information needed for effective tracking and monitoring of SDGs in Nigeria.

Speaking at the event, Osinbajo said that with the launch of the report, Nigerian government would be able to track the progress being made in the achievement of the SDGs in the country on annual basis.

He therefore urged all stakeholders to pay close attention to key findings and recommendations in the report with a view to strengthening the implementation of the SDGs in Nigeria.

“The launch today, is a product of the data mapping exercise, design and execution of the SDGs Data Bond which demonstrates the desire to realign the National Statistical System with the requirements of the SDGs.

“The Federal Government is committed to supporting the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President of Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs); the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the entire National Statistical System to guarantee sustained production of relevant statistical information needed for effective tracking and monitoring of SDGs in Nigeria.

“The Federal Government will continue to count on the patriotism and resilience of Nigerians in our efforts to achieve rapid socio-economic transformations in our dear country, especially at this challenging period in our national development,” the Vice President said while commending OSSAP-SDGs and NBS for the initiative.

“Let me conclude by commending the Senior Special Assistant the President on SDGs, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire and the Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr. Simon Harry, for your leadership in this important process.

“In presenting this Strategic Report to Nigerians and the international community, I urge all stakeholders to pay close attention to its key findings and recommendations with a view to strengthen the implementation of the SDGs in Nigeria.”

Also speaking at the occasion, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, (SSAP-SDGs), Princess Orelope-Adefulire, noted that Nigeria has become the first in Africa to align its national statistical system with the SDGs with the presentation of the report.

She also assured that the federal government will continue to create enabling environment for the production of statistics required for tracking and monitoring the implementation of SDGs in Nigeria.

“With this launch, Nigeria is now the first country in Africa to have successfully aligned its national statistical system with the requirements and indicators of the SDGs,” she said.

“We are all aware of the daunting responsibilities and challenges being faced in the task of statistical production of data across all MDAs.

“It is for this reason that as a government at the centre, we are creating the enabling environment necessary for the continuous production of the required statistics for tracking and monitoring the implementation of SDGs in Nigeria.

“This has become necessary given the fact that planning and policy formulation can only be effective when statistics is promoted as a tool for evidence-based policymaking.”

“As the SDGs are interrelated and interconnected, we have since recognized that the SDGs cannot be achieved with standalone policies and programmes. They must be carefully and scientifically integrated into our national and sub-national medium and long-term development policies and plans,” she said.

“In effect, achieving the SDGs serves as the basis for effective economic governance to promote the welfare of a nation. In particular, the attainment of the ambitious 2030 Agenda for sustainable development promises a better quality of life for all is to be owned, especially in Nigeria, where poverty remains a source of great concern.

“To achieve this, however, the implementation of SDGs in Nigeria will need to be all-inclusive, in a ‘whole-of-society’ approach so that ‘No one is left behind’.”

Princess Orelope-Adefulire appreciated the NBS for providing the needed support that enabled the launch of the report.

She also asked other ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to do the same in order to “put in place a system for sustained, quality and reliable data production at all levels of Government in Nigeria.”

“The Report we are launching today therefore is a product of series of efforts spearheaded by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), to which I must commend for the initiatives in laying the platform for the production of statistics that are capable of providing the needed support for tracking, monitoring and reporting the progress in achieving the SDGs in Nigeria,” she added.

Also speaking at the event, the Statistician General of the Federation said the need for regular reporting on the achievements of SDGs necessitated the realignment process of the Nigerian Statistical System (NSS) in line with SDGs requirements.

According to him, the report was a veritable instrument for driving the implementation of SDGs in Nigeria. He added that the NBS would institutionalize the production of the report.

Harry also said that the realignment process was highly participatory, involving relevant MDAs at both the national and sub-national levels, Development Partners, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), special groups, including youth and persons living with disabilities, and the Organised Private Sector (OPS).

This, he said, was done in order to instill a high sense of ownership.

“The outcome of these series of consultations constitutes the content of this report,” he said while promising that the NBS will continue to carry other stakeholders along for production of data to drive SDGs in Nigeria.

“As the Coordinator of the statistical system in Nigeria, NBS is determined to ensure the institutionalization of the realignment process in all data producing agencies at both the national and sub-national levels of Government,” Harry said.

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