Date: 2020-10-08

The Kwara State Government has restated its determination to entrench a system that would eliminate attitude of information falsification for selfish interest without recourse to facts and figures.

The State Commissioner for Finance and Planning, Mrs Oyeyemi Olasumbo Florence, made this known when she flagged -Off Training of Enumerators for the conduct of National Business Sample Census(NBSC), in Ilorin. Mrs Oyeyemi who frowned at the practice of information falsification, stressed that there should be a paradigm shift in the way and manner that government business is conducted, if meaningful development must be achieved.

According to her, "As a matter of policy, we are determined to ensure production of accurate, timely and reliable statistical information that would serve as a guide for good governance".

The Commissioner who reminded participants that failure to make recourse to statistical information in the course of governance had in the past retarded general development, said the present administration would continue to provide National Bureau of Statistics with all supports required to enable it discharge its responsibilities of providing the nation with reliable statistics for policy formulation.

She charged the participants to come up with feasible ways and means of improving delivery of good statistical information for good decision making process in Nigeria.

She also urged them to do justice to the agenda designed for the training session in order to ensure effective conduct of the forthcoming business census.

The Commissioner advised business owners to cooperate with enumerators and supply them with accurate data for policy formulation and support where necessary.

She emphasised that the enumeration programme was not about revenue generation but to ensure accurate and reliable data that would aid policy formulation for overall development.

The State Officer of the Kwara State National Bureau of Statistics, Mrs Mary Olubunmi Adeyemo had in her remark, said Business Census is a statistical exercise that involves enumeration of formal and informal business establishments across the country.

She explained that the programme is conducted periodically at the discretion of the government but disclosed that the exercise was last held in Nigeria two decades ago.

She added that the programme would witness creation of awareness and training of enumerators among others.