National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in collaboration with World Bank, yesterday, commenced Training of Enumerators (ToE) to capture data for 2022/2023 Nigeria Living Standard Survey (NLSS).

Addressing the media after opening a two-week training, Statistician General of the Federation/Chief Executive Officer, Prince Semiu Adeyemi Adeniran, said the workshop was one of the routine activities, observing that the new one is slightly different.

He said: “It is different in the sense that the manner and way in which the programme has been carefully and meticulously designed, has been done with the aim of not only equipping participants, but also give a broader understanding of concept of poverty and living standard measurement. This has been done deliberately and is in line with management’s renewed resolve to enhance technical capacity of staff across the Bureau.”

Adeniran recalled that in May 2020, at the peak of COVID-19, NBS released the 2018/19 Nigerian Living Standards Survey (NLSS) result that provided first official estimates of poverty and welfare in Nigeria after almost a decade.

He said: “The report, which recorded a headline national poverty rate of 40.1 per cent, collected detailed data on consumption, education, health, employment, housing conditions and other key non-monetary indicators of welfare. The survey was conducted over a 12-month period to capture seasonality in household consumption expenditure. It was adjudged as one of the best quality surveys to be conducted by the Office and its results were widely accepted and acknowledged locally and internationally.”

He disclosed that the ongoing training of enumerators in Ibadan is a follow-up, adding: “This automatically means that expectations for this survey are high. Reporting of poverty and welfare statistics by default can be a very sensitive issue.”