Follow Us on Google
From Judex Okoro, Calabar
Minister of State Budget and National Planning, Mr Clem Agba, has stated that Nigeria needs critical data for an effective climate change analysis.
Speaking at the 44th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA), with the theme ‘Climate Change and Socio-Economic Consequences Statistics’ and held in Calabar, Agba said it is high time Nigeria became proactive in responding to climate issues as it would best serve our development context.
According to the him, critical data is ver significant for effective information dissemination and in understanding climate problems in the context of sustainable national development.
Maintaining that the theme of the conference which focuses on climate change and socio-economic issues in statistics is apt, he said it is in line with Sustainable Development Goal 13 which is geared towards combating climate change.
“A proactive response to climate issues will best serve the development of Nigeria in the context of sustainable development.
“To be proactive therefore, one of the major trends that is guiding the federal government’s in going into development of the Medium Term National Development Plan from 2021 to 2025 is the Green Economy.
“Like the rest of the world, Nigeria is committed to developing measures that will protect it from the vulnerabilities of the adverse effect of climate change.
“As a nation, Nigeria needs to move towards climate adaptations that will diversify its energy sources away from fossil fuel to embracing the green economy.
“However, the global energy transition must be inclusive, equitable and just, taking into consideration different realities of various economies of the world.
“Statistics is a vital source of information as it provides policy makers with correct data on all aspects of life; the state of the economy, including the growth of the population, health and others”, he stated.
He added that the federal government is determined in entrenching a system that would eliminate the practice of falsifying data for self interest.
Declaring the conference open, Gov Ben Ayade, challenged the statisticians to find the connection between science and reality as statistics would make no sense if it lacked proper interpretation to bring value to mankind.
“For example, in Nigeria, there is a great concern as to what the real percentage of of unemployment exacerbated by the result of climate change is.
“The different figures that lacks reliability requires the incoming statisticians to fill the gap; your responsibility is to work with the Federal Government to guarantee the reliability and availability of data, the governor said.
