The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Dr. Yemi Kale

  • Aregbesola praises lawmaker at award

    Aregbesola praises lawmaker at award

    The member representing Obokun State Constituency in the Osun State House of Assembly, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye has been honoured with the Most Outstanding Lawmaker in Nigeria Award.

    The award was conferred on him by the Patriots in Leadership and Service (PILAS) on Saturday at Royal Thropicana Hotel Abuja.

    Speaking at the award presentation, the Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola said he was impressed by the honour conferred on Oyintiloye who has distinguished himself in leadership and service to the people.

    Represented by the Commissioner for Federal Matters, Idiat Babalola, the Governor said the honour speaks volume of Oyintiloye’s commitment to service and poverty reduction in the society.

    He said the commitment of the lawmaker to quality leadership, service to the people and fight against poverty was in line with the recent rating of Osun State as the best in Poverty Index Level by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

    He noted that the series of social investment programme of the government were people-oriented.

    “We have a path with the people and we have been following that despite the economic situation. Most of our social investment programmes are now the ones being replicated by the Federal Government.

    “I’m impressed that Oyintiloye has done us proud and proved a point that Osun State is always a state to beat in every aspect of governance,” the governor said.

    He urged Oyintiloye not to rest on his oars but to continue to offer services to the people of Obokun and Osun in general.

    The Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr Yemi Kale reiterated that Osun State remains the lowest in Poverty Index Level in Nigeria.

    Represented by a Director in the NBS, Mr Isiaka Olanrewaju, a Programme Analyst, Kale said: “When people were thinking that Osun was not doing well in poverty reduction, the report on the analysis and the indicators therein proved otherwise.

    “We have compiled some indicators to rank states based on their performance and when some people are thinking that Osun State is not doing well, those indicators proved otherwise.

    “There is one indicator that measures incidence of poverty in Nigeria and on the ranking; Osun State came last, meaning that Osun is the first state where poverty would not have way.

    “When you talk of Osun State as the state that is not doing well these indicators proved otherwise. That is, again, what has reflected in this award, meaning that such honours should be given to those who actually merit it.”

    Receiving the award, Oyintiloye advised governments at all levels to always adopt scientific tools in areas of development to measure societal growth and planning.

    Calling for funding of agencies whose activities relate with baseline studies and growth measurement, Oyintiloye stressed that societal development must be anchored on sound logic, gap study analysis and planning.

    Speaking on the award, Oyintiloye stated that the honour has, again, imposed on him a greater challenge of justifying the confidence reposed in him by the people.

    Dedicating the award to Governor Aregbesola and the people of Obokun Constituency, he said the supports he received have been encouraging him to do more.

     

  • NBS seeks cooperation on public service survey

    NBS seeks cooperation on public service survey

    The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has solicited the cooperation of respondents in volunteering accurate information to interviewers for a National Survey on Quality and Integrity of Public Service.

    This is contained is a statement issued by the Statistician General of the Federation, Dr Yemi Kale on Tuesday in Abuja.

    Kale said the cooperation of respondents would determine the success of the exercise across country.

    According to him, the NBS is collaborating with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the European Union to conduct the survey.

    “This Survey is a follow up to a pilot survey earlier conducted on the same issue in the States of Delta, Oyo, Katsina and Kwara.

    “This baseline survey’s main objective is to collect evidence-based data on the different forms of corruption affecting the daily life of the average Nigerian citizen.’’

    Kale added that the survey would document citizens’ direct experiences of corruption events, and access to justice.

    It would also focus on “opinion and perception of citizens about recent trends, patterns and policies on corruption and experience of reporting corruption and other crimes to public authorities,’’ he said.

    The Statistician-General disclosed that the survey would cover all the 36 states of the Federation, and the Federal Capital Territory.

    “NBS interviewers will visit 33,300 households from 30th April to 19th May, 2016 to solicit for information during the survey,’’ he said.

     

  • Nigeria records 500,224 new jobs in six months, says NBS

    Nigeria records 500,224 new jobs in six months, says NBS

    The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday said the formal and informal sectors recorded 500,224 new jobs in the first half of the year.

    The Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr Yemi Kale,  who spoke in Abuja during a three-day National Stakeholders’ workshop on Review of the Definition and Methodology for Computation of Unemployment Statistics in Nigeria,  said the sectors recorded 240,871 and 259,353 new jobs in the first and second quarters respectively.

    He said the formal sector recorded 76,018 jobs in the first quarter while 78,755 jobs were created in the second quarter.

    The statistician-general said 158,894 jobs were created in the informal sector in the first quarter, while 175,786 jobs were created in the second quarter.

    He said: “In the first quarter of 2014, the public sector recorded 5,959 jobs while 4,812 jobs recorded in the second quarter.

    “The total new jobs for first quarter of 2014 was, therefore, 240,871, representing 10.3 per cent decrease from the previous quarter, which recorded 265,702 jobs and lower than the 431,021 jobs created in the corresponding quarter of 2013.

    “The education (private) sector dominated the formal sector with the most number of jobs, taking up 23,643 jobs, representing 31 per cent of the total share, followed by manufacturing with 11,088 jobs, representing 14.6 per cent.’’

    He said electricity, gas steam and air conditioning supply sectors recorded 12 jobs and water supply, sewage, waste management and remediation sector created 12 jobs in the first quarter.

    “The informal sector which constitutes most of the jobs created in agriculture and micro, small, medium scale enterprises went up to 9.8 per cent compared to the preceding quarter which was 143,278,’’ he said.

    He said the figure was lower than the 232,272 jobs created in the corresponding period of 2013.

    Kale said the total new jobs created in the second quarter were 259,353, representing 7.1 per cent increase from the preceding quarter, which recorded 240,871 jobs.

    The statistician-general also inaugurated the committee to review the definition and methodology for computation of unemployment statistics in the country.

    He said the review became necessary because under the International Labour Organisation (ILO) guidelines, anyone in the labour force who worked  at least an hour during seven-day reference period was considered employed.

    “Within the Nigerian context, any person in the labour force who did not work for up to 40 hours during reference week is considered to be unemployed.

    “The definition used by NBS was adopted in a national workshop with several participants drawn from the National Statistical System (NSS).

    “The use of 40 hours as a cut-off or measure has been described as outdated by local and international partners and inconsistent with present realities in the country,’’ he said.

    Kale said the NBS inaugurated the committee in line with its mandate of developing and promoting the use of statistical standards and appropriate methodologies in the country.

    The Director, ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Mrs Sina Chuma-Mkandawire, urged the Ministry of Labour and Productivity and NBS to build a strong statistical foundation for the review of the National Employment Policy.

    Chuma-Mkandawire, who was represented by its Senior Programme Officer, Mrs Chinyere Emeka-Anuna, said sound policy could only be achieved on the basis of solid and empirical evidence.

    Prof. Sarah Anyanwu from the University of Abuja, who chaired the committee, promised that the committee would make recommendations that would reflect the unemployment statistics in Nigeria in line with international standards.

  • Inflation rises by 0.6%

    THE Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, yesterday said Nigeria ’s inflation rate rose to 12.3 per cent in November as against 11.7 per cent recorded in October.

    When analysed on monthly basis, the composite Consumer Price Index (CPI) was higher by 0.60 percent when compared with the preceding month’s index.

    In a report yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), it attributed the relative increase in the headline index during the month to general higher prices of food and core indices.

    The headline inflation is made up of Core Index and Farm Produce Items.

    The Bureau pointed out that unlike previous months, the core sub-index deviated from its trend, increasing to 13.1 per cent while food index continued to show lagged effects of the floods which impact was heavily felt in several farmlands in October as well as other demand and supply factors.

    A further decomposition of the CPI on urban and rural basis showed that the urban inflation rate was recorded at 15.8 per cent year-on-year, an increase of 0.5 percentage points from the 15.3 per cent increase recorded in October, increased by 0.7 percentage points to 9.8 per cent on yearly basis from October.

    Analysing the trend further, the agency reported that on a monthly basis, the ‘Urban All’ index increased by 0.6 per cent from October, while the ‘Rural All Items’ index increased by 0.63 when compared with the previous month.