For any Nigerian who is inclined towards development, or anybody who has an interest in national finance and economy, sourcing specific data must have been a challenge at many points. Apart from webpage links that may lead to nowhere, the simplistic nature of many of the websites for government agencies may be frustrating.
From the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning alone, there are 18 agencies and offices that should provide regular public data updates. However, on a selective review of the website of some of these agencies, comprehensive data gaps were observed.
For instance, one would expect to obtain comprehensive data on revenue receipts from the website of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). One may expect to access the details and distribution of internal revenue from the website. However, the website appears to be merely an information portal where FIRS events, as well as information on tax payment scales and methods, can be found.
Similarly, the website for Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission appears to miss out essential data. In addition to the missing data, the website does not sufficiently describe what has been going on in the commission since 2018. Even the policy briefs and the weekly economic updates that were once published by the commission were discontinued in August 2017 and March 2018, respectively.
The Development Bank of Nigeria is not left out of the data challenge. While the bank has published periodical and annual reports up to 2019, comprehensive datasets appear to be missing on the web platform. The situation is similar for the National Insurance Commission and the National Economic Reconstruction Fund. The Centre for Management Development has a website that appear to be unreachable.
The Nigerian Institute for Social and Economic Research (NISER) should be a go-to for data, and research findings. However, the institute is caught in a similar, or even more data publication challenge as its counterpart agencies. In addition, the website has so many web links that either lead to nowhere or have no content. While a few research publications have been published on NISER’s website, the website appears not to portray the institute as a social and economic research institute.
Positively, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) regularly updates its website with an array of essential data. Arguably, NBS is the agency with the most data on a variety of themes. Many of the data from NBS are also machine-readable and comply with global open data standards.
However, while NBS is doing fine, the bureau has problems with timeliness of data. For instance, from its data release calendar, data on Nigeria’s demographic statistics and Prison statistics should have been published on 22nd and 30th June, respectively. Yet, these data are still unpublished.
A similar trend appears to face other federal ministries. For example, the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology lacks a data portal. Also, the same can be said of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The importance of data/ evidence-based planning cannot be overemphasized. Among other things, it ensures that policies and interventions precisely satisfy the purpose for which they are designed. Inadequacy of data in planning leads to projections and speculations which invariably rob the country of development gains. Data inadequacy also compromises the strength of advocacy for development and accountability.
Thus, it is essential that the Nigerian government should collect, collate, and publicly publish data through its agencies. Public offices that have specific inclinations with research and development should also regularly publish research findings and survey reports. Emphasis should also be placed on publishing data which are machine-readable and easy to use. The open data model should be adopted in public institutions across the country.