According to Financial Mathematics expert Prof. Obi-Nnamdi Agwuegbo, Nigeria’s current economic situation might be linked to the country’s successive administrations’ failure to use statistical reasoning to inform decisions pertaining to national growth.
According to University Don Prof. Agwuegbo, expecting Nigeria’s full potential to be achieved without the use of statistical approaches would be unrealistic given the government’s analogue approach to development concerns.
He said this on Wednesday during the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta’s (FUNAAB) 102nd Inaugural Lecture, “Statistical Reasoning: A Panacea for National Development.”
The Prof. Oluwafemi Balogun Ceremonial Hall on campus served as the venue for the inaugural event.
In order to propel national growth and realize Nigeria’s full potential, statistical reasoning is essential, according to the esteemed professor of stochastic modeling from the Department of Statistics, College of Physical Sciences (COLPHYS).
According to Prof. Agwuegbo, statistical reasoning is essential for making sound decisions because it allows raw data to be transformed into insights that can be used to inform policy, spur innovation, and advance various industries.
The learned Professor firmly believed that without the use of statistical techniques, no field of study could achieve scientific legitimacy.
From providing quality control in manufacturing to identifying illnesses in healthcare, he believed that statistical reasoning was still essential to attaining dependability and efficiency.
He said: “Data is just an incomprehensible collection of numbers without statistical interpretation. Data only acquires significance through statistical reasoning, which directs well-informed choices and conclusions supported by evidence.
The Inaugural Lecturer suggested that statistical reasoning be incorporated into all postgraduate programs at the university in order to increase the influence of statistical thinking.
Additionally, he advocated for the creation of strong national data platforms that can offer trustworthy, easily accessible datasets to aid in research, development, and innovation.
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Furthermore, Agwuegbo emphasized that colleges and other educational establishments should incorporate statistical literacy into their curricula, emphasizing that doing so would foster critical thinking and enable students to interact with data in meaningful and transformational ways.
Prof. Babatunde Kehinde, the vice-chancellor of FUNAAB, praised Prof. Agwuegbo for his enlightening and provocative talk.
The University’s helmsman, Prof. Olukayode Akinyemi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), was in attendance to express gratitude for the Lecturer’s outstanding academic accomplishments, which included his work as an external examiner at the Universities of Ibadan and Lagos.
He pointed out that Prof. Agwuegbo has published more than 40 academic articles in respectable national and international journals. He is a member of multiple professional associations, such as the Professional Statisticians Society of Nigeria (PSSN), the American Statistical Association (ASA), the International Biometric Society (IBS), and the Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA).
