President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, emphasised on Thursday the importance of data in policy formulation for the growth of the country, pointing out that no developing country can succeed without adequate and well-informed data.
The duo gave this stand while speaking at the book presentation of “Nigerian Public Discourse: The Interplay of Empirical Evidence and Hyperbole,” written by the immediate past Minister for Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, held at the Eko Hotel and Suite, Victoria Island.
President Tinubu, who was represented at the event by his Chief of Staff (COS), Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila said it was imperative that leaders in politics and government had the obligation to engage in evidence-based discourse and data-reliant decision-making as a matter of course, adding that the obligation was even more significant to ensure that “our engagement with each other springs from a shared agreement on what truth is, what is real, and what isn’t.”
The president assured that his administration had an obligation to engage in evidence-based discussion and data-reliant decision-making, hence the need for accurate data that would be used for better policy formulation and execution.
This was just as the president noted that the country was currently living through one of the most challenging periods in modern history and was confronted by different policies and decisions that must be made to ensure that the current and future generations were in an appropriate position, stressing that the world was equally changing all around.
“As citizens become more interested in governance, it is the government’s obligation to ensure that engagement with citizens springs with shared agreement on what the truth is, what is real, and what is not,” the president said.
The president, while stressing the importance of accurate information in policy formulation and national development, berated the menace of social media in the dissemination of fake and wrong information, which, he said, had almost torn the country apart, stressing the need to regularise the framework of news dissemination on social media to avoid misinformation in the country.
“Social media has become a societal menace and must be regulated. As many people do not understand, once the send button is hit, there is a potential to reach millions of people around the world, which is capable of causing great danger not just in society but even unintended consequences to the individuals who are receiving information, which may include security of life,” he said.
President Tinubu commended the former minister, Mr Raji Fashola, who is also the former governor of Lagos State, saying that he had, in his usual style, “approached the subject with an abundance of scholarly rigour, bringing his considerable intellect, wealth of experience, and passionate patriotism to a critical subject matter that has been too long ignored.”
According to the president, those who know Fashola, including himself, are not in the least surprised by this undertaking, recalling that the former governor, throughout his public service, had made it a point of duty to seek out and try to solve the thorniest problems and the most difficult tasks.
He said the book being presented was part of that legacy and evidence of a continued determination to be a part of the solutions that advance the cause of humanity and ensure the progress of the nation and her people, saying that he would be delighted to see “that as many of my colleagues and friends as possible receive copies of this book so that they, too, can benefit from the insights contained therein.”
Speaking at the event, Governor Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, noted that accurate data would help in finding lasting solutions to the myriad challenges facing the nation, adding that “for a developing country like us, part of the problem we have is that we don’t have data, which is very crucial for policy formulation for national development.”
Governor Sanwo-Olu, while stressing the importance of data, noted that “deterministic data is essential even in our daily lives; even on issues such as buildings, we require correct data to know the threats.”
The governor further stated that the state government recognises the importance of history and data, positing that it was for this reason that it became compulsory for every project carried out in the state to have an “as-built drawing.”
Citing the ongoing rail line on water construction as an example, the governor said the ability to store such a record was very important for the next generation.
The author of the book, Mr Fashola, who is also a former governor of Lagos State, disclosed that the book was written based on his 21 years of experience as a public officeholder.
According to him, the book highlighted different public issues ranging from providing 17 million houses to resolving housing deficiency in the country to rent collection frameworks between landlords and tenants, cart pushers on the highways, or keeping refuse dumps onboard daylight, thereby obstructing a lane, which obviously had an adverse effect on the management of transportation.
According to him, the book is intended to provoke serious conversation about the country and to elicit more serious actions, adding, “My joy is that the conversation has just started, and by and large, we will get good and positive results in our quests for national development.”
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