Launch of the General Household Survey

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am extremely honoured and elated to welcome you all to this official Launching of the General Household Survey.

Let me start by welcoming all the dignitaries present, especially members of the State Executive Council, House of Assembly, Head of Agency, the Emir of Katsina and Daura, Development Partners, Academia, and all participants at this Launch. We are highly honoured by your presence and thank you most sincerely for taking the time to be here with us.

Today’s Launching is a culmination of frantic efforts by the State Bureau of Statistics (SBS) Katsina State with the technical support of some partners, particularly, United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) and indeed the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

This survey would enable policymakers and, by extension, development partners to have a deeper understanding of household living conditions and provide evidence-based information for policy implementation that would transform the lives of citizens both in the State and the country at large.

As soon as we took over administration of Katsina State, our first priority was to pursue laudable projects to improve people's well-being in the State. The idea is to open new possibilities for development without leaving anyone behind. Based on this, I recently launched the Community Development Programme in all 361 wards of the 34 Local Government Area in the State.

The successful implementation of pro-poor policies is hinged on reliable data. Through up-to-date data, policy-plan budgets are better coordinated for greater performance. This General Household Survey comes in handy in providing relevant data for optimal policy performance.

I charged the State Bureau of Statistics to use a robust methodology that conforms to the international standard throughout the survey. The outcome of the survey shall reflect the reality of current patterns of household dynamics and shall provide invaluable insight into their economic activities, well-being, and resilience.

Indeed, General Household Survey shall collect salient household-level information on income, consumption, health, education, nutrition, children's development, and shocks, among other key socio-economic variables. In a nutshell, General Household Survey is a goldmine and treasure trove for policymakers and researchers alike.

Additionally, General Household Survey is a longitudinal survey that helps in tracking respondents over time. This would permit capturing multidimensional indicators mirroring ongoing economic, social, environmental, financial, and infrastructural intervention of this administration. Considering the immediate positive impact we have been recording, the subsequent wave of General Household Survey shall indeed showcase interesting success stories in Katsina State.

Other interesting stories such as energy access in the State can be unravelled from the findings of the Survey. The results of the survey may help inform the best strategy for bridging inequities in access, promoting inclusivity, and deepening clean energy use.

Similarly, the survey findings could be used to design several impactful project and intervention programmes across many sectors which include agriculture, food security, education, water, social protection, job creation, and governance, among others.

As such, with the successful completion of the survey, policymakers, MDAs, and indeed development partners could have relevant data needed to implement their projects. This will unequivocally free up resources albeit budgeted for various surveys. Henceforth, all MDAs in the State are to liaise with Katsina State Bureau of Statistics in undertaking their future survey exercise.

During today's technical session, I urge all field officers to pay attention because your dedication will help greatly in achieving the predetermined goals and objectives of the survey.

I cannot conclude my remarks without acknowledging the fact that with the type of youths engaged as enumerators, a greater achievement is ascertained.

Moreover, I sincerely appreciate the support of UNICEF for showing genuine concern in many facets of challenges affecting the development of the State.

On a final note, I want to express my profound gratitude to the dedicated staff of State Bureau of Statistics who worked tirelessly from planning until this stage. I am proud of you all. Your frantic efforts and contributions will make it possible to achieve this milestone in providing quality data that will shape the future of our dear state.

On this note, the State Consultative Committee on Statistics (SCCS) is hereby inaugurated. The SCCS is charged with the responsibility of accelerating the development of the state statistical system.

It is with joy that I officially declared the commencement of the General Household Survey of Katsina State.

Thank you all for joining us today and for your continued support on this data-driven journey.