The Head, Department of Statistics at the University of Ibadan, Dr. Shittu Olanrewaju, has made a strong case for the study of statistics, saying that the course “has powerful and far-reaching effects on everyone.”

He said that statistics impacts on things such as “the food we eat, the medicines we take, emergency preparedness, transportation system, climate change monitoring and could be used to find a lasting solution to current global challenges.”

Dr. Olanrewaju was speaking during a press conference organised to herald the 40th anniversary celebration of the first Department of Statistics in a Nigerian university and to mark the International Year of Statistics.

“Year 2013 has been declared the Year of Statistics worldwide and the Department of Statistics, University of Ibadan is joining, and we are combining energies with more than 1,400 organisations in 111 countries to promote the International Year of Statistics,” Dr. Olanrewaju said during the press conference held at the Professor Jide Abe Lecture Theatre.

Highlighting the major objectives of the conference, he said it was meant to increase public understanding on the power and impact of statistics in all aspects of society, and to nurture statistics as a profession, especially among high school, college and university students. “This is to also promote creativity and development in the sciences of probability and statistics,” he added.
Lamenting the implications of the neglect of statistics, the HOD lamented: “Our students no longer know the nitty-gritty and that is why we see them today performing lower than expectations. We are even very lucky here in the university that we have it as a special department which can never be suppressed under any condition.”

Prof. Amalia Godwin Nwanzu, in his own contribution, stressed that need for students to start acquiring the knowledge of statistics from secondary school level so as to better understand the subject.

“We are doing our best to inculcate statistical significance and efforts are in the pipeline to bring back the study into our secondary schools’ curriculum as we are making liaison with the government too on this issue,” Prof. Nwanzu said.

•Photo shows University of Ibadan VC, Prof. Isaac Adewole.