In conventional terms, business sample… census is conducted every 5 years, as recommended by the United Nations Statistical Commission, however in Nigeria, the census has not been conducted for over two decades, mainly due to funding challenges, but the narrative has changed thanks to the intervention of the World Banks’s Fiscal Governance and Institutions Project, offers DR YEMI KALE.

Pleasantries & Protocols

Distinguished invited guests, media participants, staff, and management of the Bureau, it gives me great joy to be here with you this morning at the opening ceremony for the Training of Trainers for the National Business Sample Census (NBSC) 2020. This event for me is really a huge delight, not only for the fact that we are finally able to commence this long awaited and immensely important activity, but also, this is one exercise that I personally promised to complete before I leave this seat, so I am highly elated to be here today to witness the opening of this exercise.

The Business Census also known as an Economic Census is a statistical exercise that involves the enumeration of formal and informal business establishments across the country. During this process, commercial and industrial business operations in fixed locations are listed with valuable information including the nature of the economic activity of the establishments, the number of employees they engage, their contact details, amongst other things, are collected during the exercise. The information emanating from this census activity is primarily useful in understanding the nature and structure of the economy, as well as providing a sound business frame for the conduct of economic surveys in the country. Conventionally, it is conducted every 5 years, as recommended by the United Nations Statistical Commission, however in Nigeria, the census has not been conducted for over two decades, mainly due to funding challenges. Knowing the critical importance of the exercise, not just to the statistical system in Nigeria, but to the entire economy, since my appointment into this position, we have sought for different ways and means to actualize this census. Our pursuit for this finally paid off thanks to the World Banks’s Fiscal Governance and Institutions Project (FGIP), which graciously accommodated the Business census, as well as the Agricultural census, which we plan to conduct early next year. So, let me at this point appreciate the World Bank for this opportunity to correct this statistical anomaly in Nigeria. This exercise along with many others that we have both collaborated on over the years have been extremely critical to the development of the national statistical system and to policymaking and monitoring in Nigeria. Therefore, on behalf of the system, I thank you most sincerely.

This training event today is unique. The Training of Trainer or ToT as we commonly call it is an important stage in the data production process. It is the stage at which the personnel who will be sent to the field to train the data collectors are equipped with the knowledge and processes of the survey or census. However, this ToT is unique in the sense that it jointly serves as a publicity event for the business census. As you can imagine, an exercise such as this requires a huge amount of publicity and advocacy. Everyone, including individuals, households, business owners, organisations as well as policymakers at all levels need to be fully aware and support this exercise for it to be truly successfully. This is what has informed the steps taken so far in the planning and preparation of this census. Earlier in the year, we carried out a national technical workshop for the census in Akwanga, Nassarawa State. At that event, we invited all relevant federal MDAs, as well as the state Ministries of Finance, Budget and Planning, Ministries of Commerce and Industries and their state statistical offices to discuss and agree on the proposed design and methodology of the census. Two national sensitization workshops were held for the various business associations, chambers of commerce and industries, and state governments. The first was held in Kaduna State for the North, and the other for the South held in Asaba, Delta State, both in February and March of this year, respectively. These events were especially useful in informing and preparing the minds of the stakeholders for the census exercise, as well as helping us to fine-tune our operational strategy for the assignment.

As with any good statistical activity, pre-test and pilot exercises were conducted to test our readiness and plans for the census. An initial Pilot was conducted in June this year, just after the lockdown was lifted, while a second was conducted in late August to address challenges and issues exposed by the first pilot. Both were conducted in Lagos, FCT, Kaduna, Abia, Bauchi, Oyo, Rivers and Kano states. The second pilot was hugely successful and has put us in a position where we believe we are ready to deploy nationwide. Technology as we all know is increasingly helping us work more efficiently and this will be duly deployed during this census. First, all enumerators will be equipped with CAPI devices for data collection. This will enable for fast and accurate collection, thereby increasing the quality of the data. It will also require the collection of GPS locations of the establishments, which can be easily plotted and mapped for better visuals. Furthermore, we are migrating from the use of manual blocking and segmenting designated working areas to deploying the use of digital segments for effective location and demarcation of the working areas. The entire built up area in the country has been digitally carved into manageable segments and mapped out appropriately with numberings across all local governments and states. This was done to help field managers assign work to the field personnel adequately and also, help enumerators identify and locate the working areas where they are meant to collate data. This is a first for the statistical system in Nigeria and a significant step in our quest for excellence and efficiency in statistical production.

The results of this exercise are particularly important for statistical operations and policymaking in Nigeria, particularly because it has not been conducted for over two decades. So, I urge all the trainers and facilitators to kindly accord it the seriousness and commitment it deserves. With the current economic challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the apex statistical agency in the country, we need to be at the fore in providing government with all relevant information to assist her in taking the right policy decisions, and this exercise is a very crucial part of that assignment. The usefulness to government and the business community of the vital information expected to come out of this exercise can only be best imagined. Aside gaining a better understanding of the changing structure of the economy, it can easily help government identify and locate establishments in different sectors of the economy for targeted support, and also, the data can be used in designing better employment generation programs, or even boost government revenue drive by going after establishments operating under the radar. So, I implore you to participate fully and be sure that you equip yourselves well enough to be able to further pass on the knowledge gained and expectation required to the enumerators adequately at the state level training. No matter how much technology and efficiency we introduce into the process, if the right information is not collected in the field, the outcome of the exercise will not be sound. Therefore, your responsibility for training the fieldworkers is vital and it starts here today with your own training.

In closing, please allow me to thank all our invited guests here today for taking time out of your busy schedules to honour our invitation, even under this difficult COVID period. Your attendance is highly appreciated. I want to kindly urge you to also spread the news about this census, particularly the National Orientation Agency and the media participants, because in doing this, we will be giving the project a good chance of succeeding, and we will be happy to provide you with further information if required.

Thank you for your attention and I wish us all a fruitful and productive event.

Thank you.

• Being Keynote Address by the Statistician General of the Federation at the Training of Trainers for the National Business Sample Census, holding at Barcelona Hotel, Wuse 2, Abuja, September 28, 2020.