As Nigeria grapples with economic recession, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says it will begin a survey to provide new data on the situation of women and children in Nigeria.

The areas of concern for the agency and its partners include health, education and child protection amongst others.

Nigeria’s Statistician-General, Yemi Kale, explained that the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) is the 5th in the country and will require over 400 personnel to visit more than 35,000 households across Nigeria.

Mr Kale explained in a statement: “MICS can be used as data collection tool in monitoring progress of national goals and global commitments aimed at promoting the welfare of children, including Sustainable development Goals (SDGs).

“In Nigeria, this MICS is the fifth of a series which started in 1995 and has been extended to include questionnaire for individual men and modules such as water quality test.

“It has extended to tobacco and alcohol use, life satisfaction, access to mass media and use of Information Communication Technology.”

He said the survey would strengthen national statistical capacity by focusing on data gathering, quality of survey information, statistical tracking and analysis.

“It will contribute to the improvement of data and monitoring systems in Nigeria and strengthen technical expertise in the design, implementation and analysis of such systems.

“It will also serve as baseline for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda and provide statistics to complement and assess the quality of data from recent national surveys.

“The recent national survey such as Nigerian General Household Panel Survey (NGHPS) and National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) conducted by National Population Commission (NPopC).” (Channels TV)

•Photo showsStatistician-General, Yemi Kale.