Dr Yemi Kale, the Statistician-General of the Federation, has solicited for the support and collaboration of households and communities in Nigeria to provide requested information on the “Nigerian Living Standard Survey’’.
Kale made the call at the inauguration of the Technical Committee and Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for the conduct of the NLSS on Wednesday in Abuja.
The MoU was signed between the National Bureau of Statistics and the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office.
Kale said accurate provision of the information would ensure that the bureau produced indicators that reflected the true living condition of households in the country.
He said that accurate information would ensure that the government and partners had the best possible information to work with, thereby giving their policies and programmes the best chances of success.
The statistician –general said the bureau would be publishing the preliminary findings of the survey on quarterly basis throughout the next 12 months.
He said just like all NBS household-based surveys in recent terms, NLSS would for the first time be conducted using electronic means of data collection.
Kale said: “This is no small task when you compare the size of our country and the number of households to be visited.
“Trained enumerators will be deployed to selected households across the country over the next 12 months, to collect information on consumption, expenditure and general living conditions.
“As you can imagine, this is expected to be a very long and thorough process, requiring the cooperation of households and communities that will be canvassed.’’
In his remarks, Idris Mohammed, Acting Coordinator, NASSCO, said the NLSS would be an instrument for regular monitoring of welfare and social trends for different population groups, especially the poor and vulnerable.
Mohammed said that the report would be useful to the Federal Government, all states, Non-Governmental Organisations, international development partners and other institutions involved in monitoring welfare and poverty across the globe.
Also speaking, World Bank Economist, Abul Azad, said the bank had been working with NBS on different surveys and would work with the bureau on NLSS.
Azad said: “It is a big and important survey, the data from the survey will be used to measure poverty and welfare in the country.
“The data from the survey will also be useful for many ministries such as Finance, Education, Agriculture and Health for evidence based policy making.
“We are here to provide necessary support to conduct the survey.’’
Earlier, the National Coordinator of NLSS, Tunde Adebisi, said the last first time NBS conducted NLSS was in 2013/2014.
Adebisi said the bureau conducted Harmonised Nigerian Living Standard Survey in 2008/2009.
He said that the survey was a combination of two surveys – Consumers surveys and Core Welfare Indicator Questionnaire Survey.
He said: “The NLSS survey is going to be for 12 months; NASSCO has promised to fund it through the World Bank support.’’
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that NLSS is an extensive survey with details in its coverage of various topics.
It serves as a good basis for in-depth analysis of living standard in the country and lends itself to the monitoring, evaluation and analysis of poverty in its various ramifications.
Statistician-General seeks support from households on Living Standard Survey
