Govts should invest in data collection to provide tailor-made solutions for citizens – Kwara based NGO, BBYDI
By Jimoh Sulyman
A Kwara based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Brain builders youth development initiative (BBYDI) has urged governments at all levels to invest in data collection in order to accurately identify the problems of the People and provide tailor-made solutions for them.
This was said on Monday by the group’s executive director, Olasupo Abideen during a press conference organized to mark this year’s United Nations General Assembly and Global Week of Action, in Ilorin.
Abideen noted getting accurate data which will help the government to know the number of poor people and what they need to do for different individual in regards to their respective priorities, stressing that the problems will continue to linger without it.
“Getting accurate data has been a problem in Nigeria, how can we know the percentage of the poor in the country and what are their priorities, is it for getting #5000 stipend or having quality education, or having ease of doing business, and all, if we only continue to provide piecemeal solutions to our major challenges, I’m afraid they will still continue to linger on,” he said.
In his recommendation, Abideen urged the governments at all levels to invest in data collection which will aid them to be able to provide tailor-made solutions to People’s problems regardless of the variation of their priorities.
He said, “the government need to invest heavily in gathering data and thereafter provided tailor-made solutions due to the variations of priorities of the people, until the government start making tailor-made solution, we will still continue to lag behind.
The group in their statement lament that the global agenda for development of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is currently under threat due to problems like the Covid-19 pandemic, floods in Pakistan; the war in Ukraine, as well as the growing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, urging for global collaboration to save the situation.
They said, “The agenda 2030 of the SDG is under threat. The unprecedented impact of the Covid-19 pandemic set us several steps back. Although the pandemic was also a test of our resolve, it showed how much work still needed to be done.
“Today, there is still a myriad of issues facing the global community. The recent floods in Pakistan; the war in Ukraine, the growing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, and many others, are sufficient reasons to strive for a sustainable world. We need all hands-on deck to achieve a more peaceful and just society where every life is protected and our planet is cared for.
“The Covid-19 pandemic pushed humanity’s resilience to the limit and continues to have vast impacts on the lives of people and the wider social, economic and environmental fabric of our world.
“Hundreds of millions of people lost their jobs and income and were pushed into poverty.
These events have shone a glaring light on the persistent and underlying injustices and inequalities of our societies.
“We need to transform a system that is no longer fit for purpose, flip the script and re-imagine our planet as our shared home, respecting the rights of all people and the natural world.” They said.
The event which was themed, ‘Climate, peace, justice and global goals: localizing and collaborating for effective synergy’, witness the presence of members of the press, civil society organizations and youth advocacy groups across the state.
