Say you were the next Governor of Kano State, how many classrooms or new schools do you think you would need to build over the next six years before 10,000 newborns in 2021 begin Primary School? Arriving at a statistically precise estimate requires the availability of data.
At the country level, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) “provides comprehensive, timely, relevant, responsive and customer focused Statistical Information relating to the social and economic activities as well as conditions of the inhabitants of Nigeria.” However, the paucity of certain basic level data shows a significant gap between the data collection and dissemination systems at the federal level and those at the state and local government levels in Nigeria.
While the NBS seeks to “vigorously collaborate with all the tiers of Government and their agencies in the production of administrative statistics; coordinate statistical orderliness; and promote general use of statistical standards”, of the 36 States that represent these next ‘tiers of government’, only Ekiti Bureau of Statistics and its Kaduna counterpart have an Open Data Portal.
Policymakers need data-based research to inform development decisions. To achieve this, a rigorous collection of data up to the Local Government level is necessary, and a system for disseminating this information is essential. Quality data is a crucial prerequisite for governments and institutions to carry out development activities. The State Bureau of Statistics comes in place here, in collecting data at the ward level, collating it and disseminating it to the public, to further enable analysis for socio-economic planning.
Without data, socio-economic development can be complex and tasking. Here’s a case study. Dawanau market claims to be the largest grain market in West Africa. How can we ascertain this fact? How much does Kano State make as sales tax from the Dawanau market? Does the sales tax reflect the volume of sales? Which other ways can the sales volume in this market be calculated and then compared with other such grain markets in Nigeria or West Africa? Does the Kano state government know the names, number and nationality of traders in each section of the market?
Has the Governor of Lagos State enumerated the sellers in the Idumota market or Mile 12 market to help the government project how much revenue the state could make from the markets or what loan structure to boost the business activities there? Without such detailed and grassroots data, planning for socio-economic development will be more tasking and less effective.
An example of how open data is used to drive socio-economic development is evidenced by the dengue outbreak in Paraguay, where the National Health Surveillance Department of Paraguay leveraged open data to create an early warning system that can detect outbreaks at the city level in every city in Paraguay.
Another instance is Namibia where the Government leveraged Open Data in an effort to eradicate malaria in the country. Researchers were able to identify areas where citizens were at high-risk. As a result, the Ministry of Health distributed 1.2 million bed nets to the most needed communities.
Also, Journalists in Kenya were able to leverage open data to report a “freeze” in the disbursement of welfare support to the elderly and disabled. Similarly, several activists, journalists, researchers, and NGOs were able to use open data to push the Nigerian government to allocate $5.3 million to help address a lead poisoning crisis that affected thousands of children in the village of Bagega.
Lastly, Brazil developed QEdu, which highlights the link between improved educational standards and open data initiatives. Similar projects are being undertaken in Mexico, Kenya, Tanzania, and the Philippines, and with record success. According to Open Data Impact, reliable data can allow school managers to implement more targeted reforms and enable parents to understand the system that is educating their children.
Tools like KoBoToolbox are great for data collection and an Open Data portal which the United States Government has embraced. According to ProWebScraper, ever since the inception of the UK’s Open Data Institute, 270 UK companies have treated open data as a critical feature of their policy while 70% of these companies have a combined turnover of 92 billion pounds based on their efforts to leverage open data.
A World Bank report shows that Open data makes it easier to monitor public budget expenditures and impacts. It also gives citizens the raw materials they need to engage their governments and contribute to public services improvement. For instance, citizens can use Open Data to contribute to general planning or provide feedback to government ministries on service quality.
Dataphyte, whose mission is to deploy data tools and technology for Nigeria’s socio-economic development, recently collaborated with the Ekiti State Government in building the State-owned Open Data portal for easy access to these data by the general public.
Also, Under the Open Government Partnership (OGP), data solution companies like Dataphyte, PPDC, BudgIT, and R2K have approached several states to provide a bouquet of open government data portals that covers Open Data, Open Contracting, Open Budget, and FOI Portal. These companies offer support at almost no cost to the government, including training for Government officials and state-level civic actors. Similarly, the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has been approached with a technical proposal to support all states in making data easily accessible.