Dr Olusanya Olubusoye, 2nd Vice President, Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA) has advised the Federal Government to fight corruption by the use of statistics.
Olubusoye gave the advice on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to stamp out corruption from the most populous black nation in the world but has only managed to execute a few high profile cases.
He said that the use of statistics would give detailed successes recorded in the fight against corruption and other social vices in the country.
“We are yet to value statistics; why is it that we are fighting corruption and we are not successful? Why is it that we are fighting crime and we are not successful?
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“Other countries are using statistics to fight those social menaces; they are using statistics to fight hunger, illiteracy, they are using it to fight outbreak of epidemic.
“So, without statistics, you are fighting corruption? You are not successful because you are fighting an evil you have not measured.’’
He explained that statistical approach was important in determining the success of any project.
“Why are we not measuring corruption every year or on quarterly basis? Measure corruption in the ministries; measure corruption in Police; measure corruption in Immigration and measure corruption in Port Authority.
“Have our own index and measure it and then release those indices, just like National University Commission (NUC) will release ranking of Universities.
“ Let us have the release every month and know which agency of the government is most corrupt. That way you will be fighting corruption
“For purpose of illustration, if you rank Immigration as the most corrupt government agency this month, everybody will wake up.’’
He called for more budgetary allocation to the offices of statistics in various MDA’s for capacity building as well as trainings within and outside the country.
“This world is a village, you cannot be in isolation. You can’t practice your own statistics in your own small room. There is a global standard; there is a global practice and best practices.
