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From Jude Chinedu, Enugu
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and UNICEF have commenced the seventh round of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS7) in Enugu State, with assurances that the state government will receive the full microdata generated from the exercise.
Speaking during an advocacy visit to the state government, the Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the NBS, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, said Enugu had been fully involved in the survey from conception to implementation.
He said: “We have designed the implementation of this in such a way that at each stage of the production of this data, the state will be fully involved and they are actively participating in it. So, when the data is ready, we are going to also involve them in the analysis.
“At the end of the analysis, the raw data will also be given to the state, apart from the report that we are going to generate for everyone. They can do deep-dive analysis because they have the raw data of all other indicators that we want to generate from this.”
The advocacy visit was followed by a field trip to communities across the 49 enumeration areas selected in the 17 local government areas of Enugu State. Adeniran said the evaluation of the exercise was ongoing in all the councils, where enumerators are collecting household data covering education, health, welfare, and other development indicators.
On data credibility, the NBS boss maintained that MICS remains one of the most respected datasets globally.
“In terms of quality, I assure you, you are getting the best. MICS has always enjoyed the reputation of the best quality data, not only in Nigeria, but in several instances all over Africa and the world. That is why we have the highest number of downloads — because people know that quality,” he stated.
He also disclosed that the Bureau is deploying a small area estimation methodology to enable further disaggregation of data beyond the state level.
On his part, Chief of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation at UNICEF Nigeria, Wayne Bacale, described the agency as a longstanding partner in the survey process.
“UNICEF has been a very strong partner and ally with the National Bureau of Statistics in conducting the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey in Nigeria.
“In fact, this is the seventh round, which means that in the last 35 years, UNICEF has been with NBS to support it and make sure that this data gathering on MICS is of high quality and meets international standards.
Head, State Bureau of Statistics and Statistician-General of Enugu State, Christopher Okafor, described the survey as critical for planning and evidence-based policy.
“This survey is very important because there are what we call proximity indicators. For instance, it is not sufficient for you to be attending a school, but how far is the school and the hospital? Then you want to know about the literacy level. You want to know about sanitation and the rest of them,” he said.
Responding on behalf of Governor Peter Mbah, the Commissioner for Finance, Dr Nathaniel Urama, thanked the NBS and UNICEF for selecting Enugu for the survey, describing the governor as a data-driven leader committed to evidence-based governance.
“We are very happy that this Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey is taking place at this time. His Excellency has worked very hard in education, in health, and in other sectors. But without a survey like this, we cannot accurately measure the outcomes.
“Yes, you can build 260 smart schools and 260 primary healthcare centres, but are they really impacting the people? Are they improving literacy, health, and welfare? These things cannot be measured by the number of buildings. They can only be measured by the outcome of a survey like this,” he said.
