Mariam Abeeb
The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS has launched 2023/ 24 General Household Survey-Panel commonly called (GHS-Panel) Wave-5.
The Statistician – General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of NBS, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran during his welcome address at the event held in Abuja , explained that the survey is a culmination of effort by the bureau and World Bank.
He added that the survey is aimed to enhance the understanding of household living conditions and provide government and other policymakers with reliable information for effective policy decision-making in Nigeria.
According to him, it is a multi-topic data collection exercise that serves as an essential tool for capturing the dynamics of Nigerian households, providing invaluable insights into their economic activities, and well-being.
“This GHS Panel survey is a very special and peculiar survey at NBS for a multitude of reasons. First, it is a multi-topic data collection exercise that serves as an essential tool for capturing the dynamics of Nigerian households, providing invaluable insights into their economic activities, well-being, and resilience.
“It specifically collects information on household income, assets and consumption, income-generating activities, health, education, shocks, and much more. In a nutshell, the GHS Panel is a goldmine and a treasure trove for researchers and policymakers in Nigeria because of the wealth of information it collects.
“Secondly, it is a longitudinal survey, meaning that it tracks and interviews the same respondents over time. In this case, with this being the 5th Wave of the survey, approximately the same five thousand households have been followed and interviewed across five waves.
“This includes Wave One conducted in 2010/11, Wave Two in 2012/13, Wave Three in 2015/16, Wave Four in 2018/19, and now Wave Five conducted in 2023/24. This is a significant accomplishment for NBS and the Nigerian Statistical System. It is certainly the first for any African National Statistics Office,”he noted.
Furthermore , the NBS boss noted that the panel approach allows for some interesting analysis to be done which can better tell the story of life in Nigeria and the living conditions of Nigerians.
He added that the impact of the survey in terms of its contribution to knowledge and the application of its findings to the design of policies and programs, noting influence of the results cannot be understated.
Prince Adeniran said that available records indicate that, over the last five years, the survey findings have been used to design several projects and intervention programs worth approximately $ 8.9 billion across many sectors which include Agriculture and Food, Education, Water, Social Protection and Jobs, Governance, and several others.
He emphasized that tracking the same households across waves, the survey provides a nuanced understanding of how Nigerian households navigate challenges and seize opportunities presented by the different types of shocks they encounter.
He encouraged all policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders to engage with the data and use these insights to drive evidence-based decisions and policymaking across your work.
“ At NBS, we remain visibly committed to advancing our data collection and analysis mechanisms. This is why going forward; we plan to integrate even more digital tools to streamline data collection and analysis and broaden our reach to ensure that topics that are critical to users are taken on board. Also, we will ensure that as much as possible; by combining the data with other data sources, we will be able to provide more disaggregated information to suit the needs of users across the board,” he assured.
