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TRANSCRIPT
THE AFRICA DATA REPORT 2016: CASE STUDY OF NIGERIA
Prepared by
Prof OA Akanbi
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Contents 1. Introduction........................................................................................................................................2
2. Methodology......................................................................................................................................2
2.1. Literature review........................................................................................................................2
2.2. Survey analysis.........................................................................................................................3
2.3. Limitations..................................................................................................................................3
3. Data Ecosystem in Nigeria..............................................................................................................4
3.1. Identification and description of key actors and systems in the data ecosystem............4
3.1.1. National statistical and administrative data systems....................................................4
3.1.2. Private sector data system............................................................................................10
3.1.3. Open data eco-system...................................................................................................14
3.1.4. Big data eco-system.......................................................................................................14
3.1.5. Civil society data system................................................................................................15
3.1.6. Data users........................................................................................................................15
3.2. Stakeholders case study –data producers and users........................................................16
3.3. Data architecture and platforms............................................................................................17
4. Data Innovation in Nigeria.............................................................................................................19
5. Challenges to the Data Revolution in Nigeria.............................................................................21
6. Conclusions and Recommendations............................................................................................22
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................................24
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1. Introduction According to the World Bank’s Statistical Capacity Indicator, Nigeria recorded a 67.8 per
cent in terms of statistical capacity (World Bank, 2016). This score is higher than the
sub-Saharan Africa average and other international development association (IDA)
eligible countries. Despite the relatively high statistical capacity, data collection and
processing in Nigeria over the past decades (post-independence in the 1960) has
experienced enormous challenges in terms of its use in achieving developmental
objectives. The data community have been undermined with inadequate financial and
institutional resources thereby, weakening the data value chain ranging from production,
management, dissemination, archiving and use. Some of these challenges have been
tackled while many still persist and remain the major hindrances to the way data is
being harnessed to impact on development decision-making (data revolution).
This report presents an in-depth narrative on the Nigerian data ecosystem, data
innovations and challenges to the data revolution. Section 2 presents the methodology
adopted in the report and highlights the major limitations of the report while section 3
analysed the data ecosystem with regards to production and usage and linking it to
sustainable development goals (SDGs) performance. It also identifies and describes the
key actors and systems and provides analysis on data architecture and platforms.
Section 4 provides analysis on the various data innovations while section 5 highlights
the challenges to the entire data ecosystem in Nigeria. Section 6 concludes and
provides policy recommendations.
2. Methodology This report is anchored in the methodology prescribed in the concept note for the
African Data Report (ADR). The methodology is applied in the unique way that is better
applied to the Nigerian context. A mix of qualitative and adaptive quantitative research
methods were used in this analysis of the Nigerian data report.
2.1. Literature review
An in-depth desk review on the Nigeria’s data ecosystem components which includes
linking SDG data availability analysis, identification of data communities, statistical law
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review and innovation inventory were carried out in this report. The literature review also
covered major data revolution initiatives occurring in the country and that make the
analyses harmonize with broader global movement. The critical review of the literature
is drawn from both scholarly and policy literature that are publicly available.
2.2. Survey analysis
The report adopted the responses from the FEPAR (2016) stakeholder’s questionnaires
used for the Nigerian data test project conducted recently as the main source of
quantitative data for the study. Two questionnaires (consisting of 24 participants in total)
were drafted with first the questionnaire targeting the data users and the second
targeting the data producers. The aimed of the survey is to solicit stakeholder’s views
on the key constraints and opportunities for improvement in the Nigerian data
ecosystem.
2.3. Limitations
This study has numbers of key limitations that future studies needs to take note of. Due
to financial and logistical constraints the study has not been able to carry out thorough
quantitative analysis of the Nigerian data ecosystem. The FEPAR stakeholder’s key
findings adopted serve to buttress the report which also has its own weaknesses. The
stakeholder’s survey analysis is expected to cover a broader spectrum of the data
ecosystem in Nigeria. Apart from the limited participants in the survey, the study is
expected to further engage with the state and local government
ministries/departments/agencies (MDAs) in order to get broader perspectives about
data ecosystem in Nigeria. It is also expected to engage with a wider spectrum of civil
society organisations (CSOs), national and international development partners,
academia, and research institutes across the country that produces and uses data. In
addition, many policy literature or documents on data production and usage may not be
made available publicly and therefore, the need to engage with broader stakeholders in
order to retrieve these documents is of outmost importance.
Against these limitations, the study provides an inclusive analysis of the data ecosystem
in Nigeria relying mostly on available scholarly and policy literature.
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3. Data Ecosystem in Nigeria
3.1. Identification and description of key actors and systems in the data ecosystem
The data ecosystem analysed in this section tend to identify and describe the entire
system and key actors in the Nigerian data ecosystem.
3.1.1. National statistical and administrative data systems
Recognising the importance of data in achieving developmental objectives, the federal
government of Nigeria established the National Statistic System (NSS) under the
Statistical Act of 2007 –a repeat of the Statistical Act of 1990 (Government of Nigeria,
2007). The main objective of the NSS is to raise public awareness about the importance
and role of statistical information to the economy, especially for evidence-based policy
design and decision-making. The NSS comprises of four main elements:
• Producers of official statistics which includes the National Bureau of Statistics
(coordinating agency of the system), line ministries and agencies (Central Bank,
National Population Commission, Independent National Electoral Commission),
public authorities/agencies, state statistical agencies and local government
statistical units;
• Data users which includes policy/decision makers, researchers, and research
and educational institutions; and
• Data suppliers, which includes establishments (formal or informal), households
and individuals.
• Research and training institutions.
Table 1 provides an overview of the main official data producers, users and their
responsibilities. Given the new statistical act of 2007, the NSS is beginning to produce
better quality official statistics especially data production within the federal ministries
and agencies. Data capturing/production at the state and local government statistical
agencies/units remain very weak and serve as one of the current challenges facing the
system. As data production becomes better there is also an improvement in its
accessibility. Data users have better access to the NSS. There still exist some hurdles
in the dissemination/supplying of data as much information with individuals, households
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and many informal establishments are still not yet captured due to lack of adequate
funding and less commitments from the coordinating agency (Kiregyera, 2015).
Table 1: Nigerian National Statistical System Data producer Data users Duties
National Bureau of
Statistics (NBS)
NBS, government,
international development
institution/partners,
academic and research
institutions, and organised
private sector institutions
Macroeconomics and
socio-economics statistics
National Population
Commission
Government, international
development
institution/partners,
academic and research
institutions, and organised
private sector institutions
Demographic and health
survey, education data
survey, population and
housing census survey,
migration statistics, and
important civic registrations
Central Bank of Nigeria NBS, government,
international development
institution/partners,
academic and research
institutions, and organised
private sector institutions
Quarterly economic survey,
financial institutions survey,
balance of payments,
financial and banking
sector.
Public authorities/agencies,
state statistical agencies
and local government
statistical units
NBS, government,
international development
institution/partners,
academic and research
institutions, and organised
private sector institutions
Administrative
data/statistics
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3.1.1.1. National Bureau of Statistics
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is the apex statistical agency responsible for
the coordination of statistical operations and provision of advisory services for all other
statistical agencies operating within the three tiers of government (local, state and
federal) in Nigeria. In order to effectively implement the Statistical Master Plan (SMP)
for Nigeria, the NBS came into existence (under the statistical acts, (2007)) with the
merger of the Federal Office of Statistics (FOS) and the National Data Bank (NDB).
Through the establishment of a data management model and the electronic
Government Enterprise Statistical Information System (GESIS), the NBS in recent time,
has improved its coordinating strategies within the NSS. The GESIS is modern system
that is built on a virtual cloud that creates electronic links between data producers,
suppliers, and users and it is expected to increase the speed, accuracy and accessibility
of producing and accessing data (Akinyosoye, 2011).
The NBS is responsible for generating:
i. Major macroeconomics statistics [such as consumer price index
(CPI)/inflation, gross domestic product (GDP), international trade (exports,
imports of goods and services and other international financial flows), and
other business and financial data (capital importation, business surveys,
internally generated revenues and federal account allocation)];
ii. socio-economic statistics [such as MDGs indicators performance, household
income and expenditure indicators, sectoral wages data, households
consumption data, gender data, job creation (employment/unemployment
data), labour force data, birth, death, marriages, ethnic groups, fertility rates,
morbidity rates, mortality rates, life expectancy at birth, age dependency ratio,
assault, murder, treason, abduction, smuggling, robbery, armed robbery,
human trafficking, nutrition data].
The macroeconomic statistics are mostly produced on an annual and quarterly basis
while the socio-economic statistics may be strictly annual. The data produced by the
NBS is relevant to some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators
especially with regards to Goal number 1 to 5 which states as:
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• Goal 1 –End poverty in all its forms everywhere;
• Goal 2 –End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote
sustainable agriculture;
• Goal 3 –Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages;
• Goal 4 –Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong
learning opportunities for all;
• Goal 5 –Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls1.
To further track the performance of the economy with regards to the MDGs target of
2015, the NBS conduct a periodic performance tracking surveys on the MDGs target
across the economy. The first report was published in 2012 and the latest in 2014 (see
NBS, 2014).
3.1.1.2. National Population Commission
The National Population Commission (NPC) of Nigeria was established by the federal
government in 1988 under section 153 of the 1999 constitution. The NPC operates
under the subset of the NBS mandate and has the statutory powers to collect, analyse
and disseminate population/demographic data in the country. It is also responsible for
the undertaking of demographic sample surveys, compile, collate and publish migration
and civil registration statistics as well as to conduct periodic population census (NPC,
2016). The census data and demographic surveys conducted by the NPC are expected
to enumerate the Nigerian population into various categories and profiles.
The type of data produced by the NPC as highlighted in Table 1 includes:
Census data –Population distribution by age, sex, marital status, schooling, education
attainment, household type/size, and dwelling types at both the national, state and local
government levels.
Demographic surveys –households characteristics (health, environment and
composition), marriage and sexual activity, fertility, family planning, infant and child
mortality, child and reproductive health, nutrition of children and women, adult and
maternal mortality.
1 For more detailed exposition of the SDG targets see UNSD (2016)
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Vital registrations –birth and death registration, birth in and out of the country,
immigration and emigration data.
The data produced by the NPC provides information on some of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG) indicators especially with regards to Goal number 10 to 11
which states as:
• Goal 10 –Reduce inequality within and among countries;
• Goal 11 –Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and
sustainable.
These goals highlight the importance of facilitating orderly, safe, regular and responsible
migration and mobility of people. It also emphasise the importance of accessing safe,
and affordable housing and basic services (UNSD, 2016).
The NPC conducted population census in 1991 and 2006. It was schedule to conduct
another census in 2016 but has been postponed to 2017 due to funds and logistics
constraints. The main demographic survey conducted by the NPC is the Nigeria
Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). This survey has been conducted 5 times in
the history of Nigeria with the first survey conducted in 1990 follow by subsequent
surveys in 1999, 2003, 2008 and the latest in 2013. Vital registrations are produced on
a daily and continuous basis and forms major parts of government administrative data.
3.1.1.3. Central Bank of Nigeria
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) came into full operation as the apex bank in the
country in 1959. The bank operates and regulates other banks under the legal
framework of the Central Bank Act, 1958 (amended) and the Banking Decree 1969
(amended). According to the Statistical Act of 2007 (Government of Nigeria, 2007), the
institution has the legal power to collect and compile official statistics related to
monetary and financial data (Table 1). In its databank, the CBN also publishes main
macroeconomics data which originates from the NBS and produces annual reports
which reviews corporate operation and the macro economy performance (see CBN,
2014).
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The data produced by the CBN provides information on some of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG) indicators especially with regards to Goal number 8 which
states as:
• Goal 8 –Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and
productive employment and decent work for all
The above SDG goal highlights the importance of strengthening the capacity of
domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance
and financial services for all citizens (UNSD, 2016).
3.1.1.4. Administrative Data
The administrative (government) data in Nigeria also constitute a significant part of the
official statistics produced by the NSS. The education, agriculture, environment and
health agencies/ministries are key to collecting routine operations of government and
daily environmental occurrences which eventually forms part of the official statistics
(Table 1). These routine data includes number of pupils/students enrolled at each
education level per session, number of pupils/students that completed a certain level of
education per session, farm production and yields gathered by the ministry of
agriculture workers, number of birth/death recorded via the ministry of health,
measurements of weather and climatic conditions gathered by ministry of environments
e.t.c. These data are primarily used for internal administrative purposes but eventually
forms part of official statistics which can be used by the public and policy makers. With
regards to environmental data which is important for the various aspects of socio-
economic life, the bulk of the data are derived through (administrative sources)
ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). These types of data covers issues such
as weather and climate-related information, forestry data, air pollution, waste discharges
from industries and data on plant/animal biodiversity. These data are stored under
sectoral statistics by the NBS and the Ministries of environment, Departments of
Forestry, National Environmental Standards & Regulations Enforcement Agency are all
responsible for the generation of the environmental data in the country. The problem of
inaccuracy in statistical data has been identified by the Ministry of Environment as a
major challenge in the production of environmental data in the country. Therefore, to
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overcome this challenge, efforts has been made towards adopting the UN framework for
the development of environmental statistics that will expedite the production of
environmental statistics (Bankola, 2014; Adeyinka et al, 2005; government of Nigeria
2011).
The above administrative data produced by various MDAs reveals information that are
linked to some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators especially with
regards to Goal number 6, 14 and 15 which states as:
• Goal 6 –Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation
for all
• Goal 14 –Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources
for sustainable development
• Goal 15 –Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,
sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land
degradation and halt biodiversity loss
The above SDG goal targets to protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including
mountains, forest and rivers. It also targets to prevent and significantly reduce marine
pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities which include marine debris
and nutrient pollution (UNSD, 2016).
The distribution of the above major stakeholders data production has been mainly
transformed from a paper-typed distribution to an electronic-type format. The electronic
distribution of data provides easy and quick access to the users of these data. With
access to the internet, these data are easily downloaded by the users from the
stakeholders (NBS, NPC and CBN) websites. As highlighted in Table 1, the users of
these data are mainly the stakeholders themselves, government, international
development institution/partners, academic and research institutions, and organised
private sector institutions.
3.1.2. Private sector data system
The private sector data system in Nigeria is huge and remains on its rising trend. The
major producers of this data are both the multinational and domestic institutions in the
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country. These institutions cut across major sectors/industries within the country and
they include:
3.1.2.1. Oil & gas
Major institution includes: Shell petroleum development company; Chevron; Mobil; Total;
Eni (Saipem); Schlumberger; Baker hushes; Halliburton energy; Addax; Texaco oil ;
Oando; Sahara energy; Conoil; Seplat petroleum; Nestoil group.
These institutions produce energy data and the types of data produced include crude oil
production and sales (per barrel and per day), natural gas production and sales, and the
cost of extracting crude oil and gas. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) collates the oil and gas statistics periodically in order to give a clear picture of
the activities within the industry. They published Monthly Petroleum Information (MPI)
and the Annual Statistical Bulletin (ASB) of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. The MPI
ASB data includes exploration/drilling activities By companies, summary of fiscalised
and non-fiscalised crude oil production, crude oil, gas and water production, crude oil
lifting (domestic & exports) and exports by destination, gas production and utilization by
field, and distribution of petroleum products by states/company/zones (see NNPC,
2016).
The data produced by the NNPC provides information on some of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG) indicators especially with regards to Goal number 7 and 12
which states as:
• Goal 7 –Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for
all
• Goal 12 –Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
The above SDG goals highlights the importance of ensuring universal access to
affordable reliable and modern energy services and the achievement of a sustainable
management and efficient use of natural resources (UNSD, 2016).
3.1.2.2. Telecommunications
Major institution includes: MTN; Etisalat Nigeria; Airtel Nigeria; Glo.
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These institutions provides telecommunication data in terms of monthly sum total of all
active telephony subscribers and tele-density, the number of active subscribers for
telephony services on each of the licensed service providers utilizing different
technologies including GSM, CDMA, Fixed Wireless and Fixed Wired (i.e. Landline), the
annualized average cost per minute of a voice call during call traffic peak periods,
percentage of subscribers who are utilizing telecommunications services per the various
technologies/standards currently deployed in Nigeria, and the number of active
subscribers for data (internet) services on each of the licensed service providers
utilizing the different technologies, i.e. GSM and CDMA. The industry data are published
through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) setup under Section 89
Subsection 3(c) of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 (NCA 2003). The
commission is mandated to monitor and report statistical information on the state of the
telecommunication industry with regards to services, tariffs, operators, technology, and
subscribers. All telecommunication operators are obligated to provide the NCC with
such data on a regular basis for analytical review and publishing (see NCC, 2016).
3.1.2.3. Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG)
Major institution includes: Nestle Nigeria; Unilever; Guinness; Cadbury; Coca cola; P&G;
PZ; Friesland food WAMCO; British-American tobacco; 7up bottling company; UAC;
May & baker; Dangote; Nigerian breweries; Flour mills; Honeywell flour mills; Chi farms;
Fan milk.
These institutions have the capability to gather data on the production and sales of
different types of processed food, beverages, over-the-counter drugs and many other
consumables across the country. These data are still published via the NSS
stakeholders and are categorised based on the FMCG group. Example of such data is
the household expenditure by categories.
The data produced in this industry reveals information that are linked to some of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators especially with regards to Goal
number 2 which states as:
• Goal 2 –End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote
sustainable agriculture
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The above SDG goal emphasise an end to hunger and all forms of malnutrition.
Accessibility to these kinds of data will help in decision-making process (UNSD, 2016).
3.1.2.4. Banking
Major institution includes: Stanbic IBTC; Standard chartered bank; Ecobank; Guarantee
trust bank (GTB); First bank of Nigeria; Zenith bank; Diamond bank; United bank for
Africa; Fidelity bank; Access bank; First city monument bank (FCMB); Union Bank.
Involve in the production of most financial data such as the amount of deposits received
and loans/credits given out, and the trends in savings rates. These data also forms the
bases for most of the data produced by the CBN as the official statistics and can be
linked to goal 8 of the SDG target as discussed above.
Table 2: Other Private Sector Data System Industry Stakeholder/institution Data produced Construction Julius Berger; Lafarge
cement; Setraco; Mantrac Any construction data (Not publicly available)
Consulting KPMG; Price waterhouse cooper (PWC); Accenture; Akintola Williams Delloitte.
Evidenced-based data and or commission research which involve some forms of qualitative data. (Confidential reports/research)
Pharmaceuticals GlaxoSmithKline; Orange drugs
Drugs production, distribution and use (Not publicly available)
Hospitality Sheraton hotels; Eko hotel; Intercontinental hotels
Major component of tourism data (Not publicly available)
Insurance Leadway insurance Sale of different types of insurance products. (Not publicly available)
Most of the above private sector data produced in different industries are used internally
by the mentioned institutions and are limited for public use. Only very few of the data
gathered feed into the official statistics. However, private sector data use in Nigeria
remains mostly dormant and most non-governmental entities rely on available data from
the official sources or carryout ad hoc surveys to support their industry data accessibility
and use.
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3.1.3. Open data eco-system
Open data ecosystem in Nigeria is on it increase and well-supported by the government.
Nigeria is one of the first countries in Africa to officially adopt an open data system and
recognising it as a key driver to faster economic growth and the achievement and
sustenance of development goals. In 2004, the federal government of Nigeria launch its
open data development initiatives. The objective is to drive innovation, investment and
development. The initiative remains a process that will freely open up the entire high
value official and administrative dataset to all citizens, businesses and general public.
This initiative has brought about the Nigerian Data Portal –an open data platform for all
kinds of official statistics (http://nigeria.opendataforafrica.org/). This may be extended to
other civil society and private sector data in future. Another open data portal developed
in Nigeria is the Nigeria Open Data Access (NODA) (http://opendata.com.ng/) which
provides its users with full access and rights to various types of open data including
official, civil, administrative, and environmental and geospatial data. The open data
initiative is also gaining ground at the community level in Nigeria. The Nigerian follow
the money initiative (http://followthemoneyng.org/) is a community-based organisation
that demand open budget and aids data from government and its partners and make it
available to members of the community. In order to bring government attention to crisis
at the community level, this action group published and visualise data through national
and global social media platforms. This data/information dissemination enables citizens
to hold their government accountable in the delivery of quality service.
3.1.4. Big data eco-system
The big data ecosystem is in its upward trend in Nigeria. According to google trends
there is an increasing popularity in big data interest in Nigeria from all categories since
the beginning of 2013 reaching 22% popularity in June 2016. Notable categories that
gain more popularity (average of 50% since 2013) in big data interest in the country are
books & literature, finance, health, hobbies & leisure, home & garden, law &
government, online communications, news, and autos & vehicles. The big Nigerian local
and multinational companies/corporations (i.e telecom, banking and financial services
sectors) are increasing investments in big data as a way forward in operating efficiently
in future business environment. For instance, MTN Nigeria, Globalcom, Airtel Nigeria
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and Etisalat are currently making use of next generation data mining and business
intelligent software tools to analyse their consumer behaviour. The big data market in
Nigeria is valued at more than $200 billion and is expected to increase in the near future.
3.1.5. Civil society data system
In lieu of the current efforts to revolutionise the global data system, the citizens-
generated data is also receiving increasing attention. These are data generated by
citizens through participation in local questionnaires and surveys and or online
behaviours/attitudes (such as orders, transactions, payment history, opinions,
preferences, and social media posts). One of the most common platforms in Nigeria for
producing a citizens-generated data is the U-Report. This is a free and voluntary SMS
social networking tool designed to generate real-time data (through community
participation) on issues that are of concerns to the society. The platform sends SMS
polls and alerts to its reporters and real-time response information is collected.
3.1.6. Data users
In this quest for data revolution, the production of essential and quality statistical data
(as discussed above) is vital but at the same time the demand-driven aspect of the NSS
needs equal attention. Therefore, further emphasis on the need to ensure that official
data producers are responsive to the needs of data users is required (Gray et al. 2016;
IEAG, 2014).
Data users includes policy and decision-makers which are found from a diverse levels
of government, politics, researchers, academics, private sector, NGOs, media and the
public. Most of these stakeholders are intermediate data users which makes use of
data for further processing and analysis while others are ultimate data users who are
end users of data and do not engage in further processing of the data (FEPAR, 2016).
The government, international development institution/partners, and organised private
sector institutions uses statistical data and information to assess and monitor policy and
programme options that will be of benefits to the public and or will bring in profits to the
organisation. It is also use to carryout governance and administration processes such
as locating which aspects of the society will a particular project or programme be
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situated. The researchers and academic institutions also make use of data in carrying
out their research and as a tool for impacting knowledge and skills into students. This
style of data usage will enhance future policy making-decisions in the country. The civil
society organisation and the media also use data to monitor progress, enhance
advocacy/debate on contemporary issues and hold government to account.
3.2. Stakeholders case study –data producers and users
This case study reports the summary of the key findings from the stakeholder’s
questionnaire conducted by the Federal Public Administration Reform Programme
Nigeria (FEPAR) for the Nigerian data test. A total number of 24 participants were used
in the study. 18 participants were from the government ministries, departments and
agencies, 2 participants each from the civil society organisation and academia, and 2
participants from the private sector. 8 participants are identified as data analyst and
users while the remaining 16 participants are data producers (see FEPAR, 2016 for
details of the below findings).
With regards to accessing and usage of data, most data users indicated they use (in
their work) socio-demographic, geopolitical and socio-economic data for intermediate
purposes. Hard publications from websites are among the most important ways
indicated by data users in accessing data. Data users also indicated some challenges in
terms of accessing data. They noted that metadata is not available and in some cases,
no centralised database exists. The data producers in this regard indicated that funding,
use of administrative data and changes in government priorities undermines their ability
to ensure the timely and predictable release of data.
The engagement between data users and producers at different levels of government
were also carried out in the study. At the local government level, the survey revealed
that there is very little engagement between data users or producers. Data users do not
engage with data producers at this level and limited incident of coordination exist
between the federal level producers and their local counterpart. This situation is a bit
better at the state level ministries, departments and agencies (MDA) given that a
number of federal MDAs engage with their relevant state agencies.
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Data gaps are also identified from the survey. Data users indicated some key reasons
for data gaps and this includes limitations in terms of frequency, coverage and reliability
of data production. Majority of the data producers indicated that inadequate funding is
the key cause of data gaps in Nigeria. Other identified challenges include lack of
training and qualified personnel and the low value placed on data in general.
3.3. Data architecture and platforms
The Nigerian data architecture remains very porous in terms of its legal, legislative and
institutional frameworks governing data production and use. At present, there is no
specific or comprehensive data privacy/protection law in Nigeria although, the
constitution (Section 37) in general terms provides for the protection of the privacy of its
citizens. This section of the constitution provides that: “The privacy of citizens, their
homes, correspondence, telephone conversations and telegraphic communications is
hereby guaranteed and protected”. Apart from this constitutional provision, there is no
other detail data law that provides for the protection of privacy of individuals in Nigeria
except for few sector-specific regulations (guidelines) that provides some privacy-
related protections. There have been two data protection-related bills (2008 and 2010
bills) that have not yet been passed into law.
The sector-specific regulations that have been provided include the consumer Code of
Practice Regulations of 2007 issued by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC
–regulator of the Nigerian telecommunication industry). These guidelines provide that all
communication firms operating in the country must make sure that they protect
customer information against improper or accidental disclosure and must ensure that
information is securely stored and must not be transferred to any third party except
otherwise permitted. The National Information Technology Development Agency
(NITDA) which is responsible for planning, developing and promoting the use of
information technology in the country also issued guidelines on data protection which
remain the only set of regulations that is detail in terms of protection, storage, transfer
and treatment of personal data. The guidelines set the minimum data protection
requirements for the collection, storage, processing, management, operation, and
technical control of data. It applies to all government agencies (federal, state and local
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governments) and private sector institutions that produce, use, and disseminate
information within the country. The provision for the protection of individual information
in Nigeria was promulgated in the Freedom of Information Act No. 4 of 2011. One of the
major aspects of the Act is to make public records and information more freely available
to the general public but also tend to limits access in some few circumstances. These
limitations include that a public institution should deny an application that contains
personal information except they receive the individual consent to disclose the
information (Udoma and Belo-Osagie, 2015)
Given the above background on data architecture in Nigeria, there is strong evidence
that there is a lack of adequate database which is mainly a product of lack of a specific
data protection and privacy laws. This raises some serious concern that is threatening
both economic and national security of the country. According to Akinsuyi (2015),
economic security is threatened when Nigerian organisations have to pay foreign
currency to foreign companies for processing data. This will not only deplete the
domestic resources but will also deny many Nigerians from participating in the
economic activities. Whilst national security issues arise when public and private
institutions allow third parties to process Nigerian citizens data without undertaken any
form of due diligence. The following practical example relating to the urgency of
enacting a data protection and privacy laws was given by Akinsuyi:
“By way of example, Samsung was the cause of recent fuss over so-called 'smart' TVs
invading people's privacy after a Samsung customer checked the privacy policy of a
new gogglebox2 that supports voice commands to change channels. 'If your spoken
words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the
data captured and transmitted to a third party,' the policy warned. This raised the
spectre of the TV in your living room listening in to private conversations. While
Samsung moved to clarify that the TV transmits only samples of spoken commands
back to the firm that develops the speech recognition technology, ostensibly to improve
the accuracy of the system. The storm that has ensued when this was blown into the
open shows just how little people are aware of the information such smart devices are
reporting back to their makers. It also highlights how such technology could easily be
hijacked by hackers and turned into a real spy in the living room. Many Nigerians have
19
purchased Samsung smart TV’s, they will need to be made aware of this functionality,
and our Data Protection and Privacy laws will need to be able to cater for the associated
issues.”
Due to the emergence and use of technology (telephones and internet), personal
data/information has been on an increasing demand over the past few decades. In the
absence of data protection and privacy laws in the country, in 2009, the NCC directed
all subscribers to mobile phones services to register their SIM cards with the operators.
Many Nigerian yielded to this NCC regulation and gave their personal information to
companies that are largely foreign in origin without no guarantee that such data will not
be abuse and or when abuse, there will be adequate compensation to the victims. This
action received no objection from both the public and or national assembly member of
lack of legislative framework for such actions (See Jemilohun & Akomolede, 2015).
There is still no effective national identity system where each and every citizen’s
personal data can be capture. To date, the national identity card scheme that first began
in 2003 remains ineffective. This scheme is regarded as the very first step of having a
single database which should lay down the platform for an effective data protection laws
and harness Nigeria to fully participate in the current data revolution landscape.
4. Data Innovation in Nigeria Recently there are few innovative ways of data production, accessibility, openness and
use that came out of Nigeria. These improved ways of revolutionising the data
ecosystem originated from both the public and private sector of the economy.
In January 2014, the NBS in conjunction with the World Bank introduced electronic tools
in capturing critical data in major statistical surveys and production in Nigeria. This was
implemented alongside with the launch of the General Household Survey (GHS) panel II
–a well-representative survey which includes important information on household
income and their socio-economic activities. This new tool serves as part of the strategy
to improve the quality (accuracy and reliability) and integrity of official statistics in the
country. The e-capturing of data have paved the way for the use of computer-assisted
personal interview (CAPI) application devices which is used to update the national
20
census of commercial and industrial businesses (NCCIB) and the national agricultural
sample census (NASC).
The NBS data portal has also brought about an improved ways for data production,
accessibility and openness into the data ecosystem. The data portals includes the NBS
open data, the national data archives (NADA) and the NBS/IMF NSDP platforms.
The NBS has implemented in 2015 the newly established IMF’s enhanced general data
dissemination system (E-GDDS). The implementation began in February 2016 with the
assistance of the IMF staff mission in setting up the processes. According to the IMF’s
dissemination standard bulletin board (DSBB), the e-GDDS is set to guide countries in
data dissemination by supporting transparency, encouraging statistical development,
and helping create strong synergies between data dissemination and surveillance.
Through this initiative, the NBS developed the national summary data page (NSDP)
which appears on the NBS website. The page provides a condensed platform for the
publication of important macroeconomic data. It also allows policy makers, domestic
and international stakeholders (i.e Investors and rating agencies) to have easy access
to timely and policy-driven data which ensure transparency into the system. This
initiative makes Nigeria the first large economy in SSA to implement the
recommendation of the e-GDDS.
As a way of revolutionising the data ecosystem and making sure no one is left behind in
the sustenance of the developmental objectives, the Nigerian government in 2013
distributed 10 million cell phones to farmers. This initiative is a strategy to make
information about better farming techniques and marketing strategy available to farmers
especially those in the rural areas. This is expected to revolutionised the agricultural
sector and also improve the data ecosystem in the country. This innovation however,
had a positive impact at its earlier stage but seems not to be sustainable given weak
institutional structure of the country.
Another important data innovation in Nigeria originated from the financial sector of the
country. The financial industry under the directive of the Central Bank introduced a
centralised biometric identification also called the bank verification number (BVN) in
February 2014. This initiative was directly targeted towards strengthening the security
21
and efficiency system in the financial sector and curbing the illicit flows of financial
resources within and outside the borders of the country. The BVN provides a unique
identity number to all bank customers and which can be verified across all the Nigerian
banks. But this ends up being an indirect way of capturing most citizens’ data which the
country has been struggling to achieve through the national identity card project. This
unique private sector data innovation can be regarded as an easy way of capturing
citizen’s data given the political issues that have impeded the success of the national
identity card project.
5. Challenges to the Data Revolution in Nigeria One of the biggest challenges facing the Nigerian data-ecosystem remains the lack of a
comprehensive database system for its citizen’s activities (i.e. national identity system),
environmental activities, business and other activities. The major constraint to the
effective database system remains embedded in the lack of inadequate human and
physical infrastructure/capital. There still exists a huge human resource gap (especially
from the production of official statistics) within the data-ecosystem in Nigeria.
Due to weak administrative and institutional system of government in Nigeria,
production of administrative data remains poor and that have impacted poorly on its
quality and that of the official statistics as well. Most administrative data are not properly
stored and still remain in hard files rather than electronic files and they are also mostly
not regularly updated.
Many of the staffs engaging in the production of data in the country do not have
adequate qualifications and have not been given an opportunity to develop their skills
through training programs. With this poor workforce, there will be absence of a proper
legal, legislative and policy framework drawn up to govern data production,
management and coordination. The ability to provide the necessary training for staffs
has been hindered by government not allocating the necessary funds to this segment of
the economy and when funds (‘inadequate’) are allocated it could be diverted or
mismanaged. This is a common occurrence within the country’s public service and has
been hindering the production of good quality official statistics.
22
Physical infrastructure have been empirically identified as one of the major constraint to
the development of the country and the general poor infrastructural facilities in Nigeria
also remain a major challenge to the current data revolution initiative. The poor state of
basic physical infrastructure especially electricity has been a major hindrance for data
stakeholders to make use of modern technologies in achieving a better data-ecosystem.
Wider access to modern technology also remains a major constraint to data revolution
especially in the context of open data, civil society data and big data eco-system.
According to the findings from the stakeholders questionnaires conducted in FEPAR
(2016), the main constraints to data production in Nigeria are inadequate funding,
limited capacities, and insufficient coordination between government ministries or
parastatals both at the federal, state and local level. With regards to data use, the main
challenge noted from the findings are related to data quality issues such as insufficient
consultation with data users, low levels of disaggregated data, and lack of longitudinal
dataset.
Given these challenges, many relevant data have not been captured and for those that
are captured, many have not been processed or properly analysed for the use by the
general public.
6. Conclusions and Recommendations Despite the limitations encountered, this report has provided an in-depth overview of the
data ecosystem in Nigeria within the context of the SDGs with emphasis on data
revolution as a means to sustain developmental objectives. The report relies mostly on
available scholarly and policy literature and augmented with previous related surveys on
data test for Nigeria. From the report, data production and usage in Nigeria has
experienced much improvement over the past decade although with many challenges
still ahead. The NSS have been greatly improved in terms of trying to align its data
production and quality with the global standards and norms. It has also ensure easy
accessibility of official statistics to the public and users in general by providing an online
platform where data can easily be downloaded. Most innovations recorded in the data
ecosystem are still mostly from the NSS and the private sector and there are still many
23
challenges ahead with regards to the civil society generated data and its accessibility.
There is still a very weak legislative framework governing data production and use in
Nigeria and this has been identified as major constraints to data revolution in the
country.
In order to be part of this data revolution agenda and be able to achieve and sustain the
developmental objectives without leaving anyone behind, it recommended that
government should put more efforts in ensuring that the national identity (ID card)
system is efficient and effective in the country. The current system still could not identify
fully “who is a Nigerian?” or not and that has been jeopardising the country’s economic
and national security system. Having such effective database is a very necessary first
step to achieving and sustaining the set macroeconomics and developmental objectives.
With this, the country’s resources will have the premise to be distributed and allocated
efficiently.
More resources will have to be expended on reviving both the institutional and physical
infrastructure of the country in order to ensure smooth and efficient production and use
of official data, private sector data and the civil society generated kind of data.
Removing the institutional constraints such as the ineffectiveness of government, poor
regulatory framework, noncompliance to the rule of law, high levels of corruption will
ensure a rapid data revolution and a more sustaining development agenda.
24
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