By Asuquo Cletus
The Cross River State Government has intensified efforts to strengthen its data management system with the training of 30 statisticians and Planning, Research and Statistics (PRS) officers on data analysis, management, and policy reporting.
The programme is part of efforts to harmonise statistical reporting across MDAs and strengthen evidence-based governance in the state.
The five-day capacity-building workshop, organised by the Cross River State Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), held in Calabar, is focused on improving the skills of newly recruited statistical personnel across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Speaking at the event, the State Statistician-General, Akedoh Okoi, stressed the importance of modern data reporting, noting that statistics must be presented in a way that is easily understood by the public and useful for policy formulation.
According to her, effective data analysis requires proper disaggregation and interpretation to guide government planning and targeted interventions.
“Data reporting and analysis are very key for statisticians because when you get your data in its raw state, you need to clean it and present it in a manner that can be used for policy and development planning,” she said.
She explained that proper statistical reporting helps government identify priority areas, such as local government communities requiring interventions in sectors like agriculture, health, and social development.
Okoi also disclosed that the state government had recently recruited a number of statisticians to strengthen its data system, adding that the training was designed to equip them with modern techniques in statistical reporting.
She commended UNFPA for its continued partnership with the state, particularly in supporting the production of the 2024 Statistical Yearbook and other capacity-building initiatives.
The UNFPA Head of Sub-Office/Programme Coordinator, Dr. Andrew Kirima, said the training was critical to improving evidence-based planning and policy formulation.
He noted that quality data remains central to achieving sustainable development, adding that statisticians play a key role in ensuring that government decisions are guided by reliable evidence.
“Government plans and programmes are only as strong as the data behind them. This training will help participants move from raw numbers to meaningful insights that inform policy,” he said.
Also speaking, the Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the State Planning Commission, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Kingsley Ndem, said no government can effectively plan without credible and timely statistics.
He urged participants to take the training seriously, noting that the knowledge gained would be applied across MDAs to improve service delivery and planning outcomes.
The training featured practical sessions on SPSS, where participants were taught data cleaning, descriptive and inferential analysis, interpretation of results, and the production of policy-friendly reports.
