Government of Enugu state Dr Peter Mbah has flagged- off the South-East 7Th Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey( MICS7) 2025 -2026 , with a call on communities to cooperate with the interviewers and give them credible information that will be used for policy making on the wellbeing of the household, with focus on children, women, men, others.
He made the call on Thursday in his speech at the flag-off held in Enugu
Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Chidiebere Onyia, Governor Mbah said, .
the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey , is a comprehensive survey developed by UNICEF and implemented by the National Bureau for statistics( NBS). He said data plays a significant role in policy direction.
Governor Mbah added that his administration understood the importance of data, the typical work that NBS does, but wanted to see an alignment between the sub-nationals and the federal government and “in doing that, we needed someone that understands some of the key complexities of data collection, data analysis, and interpretation of that data in our policy-making process. That was the reason why our new Statistician -General was selected”, he said .
According to him, the South East 7th multiple indicator cluster survey which will start on 3rd December,2025 and end in March ,2026, will provide the timely and up-to-date information on the general well-being of households, children, women, and men.
Tbe SSG, Prof Chidiebere Onyia, represented Governor Peter
” This is one of our key data collection points in our Smart Green schools. For us to get involved in how we manage our children’s well-being, health data, both in primary health care and in our Smart Green schools, these are some of the data points that we need to collect.
Commending UNICEF and NBS for organising the training and preparing field workers for the upcoming multiple indicator cluster survey, Governor Mbah , stressed the need for the tacking aspect of the work
“This survey is going to track and measure key indicators and monitor this across our Sustainable Goals processes,” he said.
Participants at the trainin
” In Enugu state, this government’s plan, the blueprint for this government, and what has formed the concept of tomorrow is here is built on the Sustainable Development Goals.
“So this year complements our need to be able to track whether there is a success with real evidence”, Governor Mbah said..
He went further to say that ,”this is something that is very important to us.
“We also know that MICS 7 is going to align with other international performance indicators that will tie down in the process that you’re going to be embarking on..So , I look forward to this whole process working, and I encourage all the participants, those that will be interviewed, across the Southeast to understand the importance of this survey and to cooperate across the board to support the people that are going to be coming out,” Gov Mbah said.
Speaking further, he said ,”It will be an intensive process. It will be a lot of data points collected. So every form of distraction by not being supportive is something that we do not encourage.
“As a state government, we encourage all those local governments that will be interviewed to be able to share credible information and not one that may not seem credible because the feedback that we get will help us formulate policies that can change the direction , not reinforce what we’re doing already. So we really thank the households that will participate. We also want to commend UNICEF for always being our partner across the board,” he said..
Governor Mbah mentioned some of the areas they collaborated with UNICEF which included sanitation process, education, health. and now data collection .
He thanked all the participants from the five south east states for attaining the training.
To those that will be going to the Field, he said, “Those of you that will be going to the field, you’re the ones that will be embarking on the most important aspect of this. For you to have sat through this process and still in a good mood shows that you’re very serious minded.
.”So I commend you, no matter where you go in the state, we’ll commend you all that helped to be able to gather the data that can help us, because what you’re doing now also helps us frame our narrative and our plan for 2027 .”
in a welcome address, the Zonal Controller, National Bureau for Statistics, Mrs. Okafor Nkechi, said the 7Th Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey , “is a globally recognised and social initiative developed by UNICEF and carried out by NBS to provide internationally comparable data on the situation of children, men and women in the household”.
The South East Zonal controller of NBS, Mrs Nkechi Okafor appealed for cooperation.
According to her, “the data collected will be used to measure the measure’s achievement on the SDG 2030 agenda and provide positive change in our nation, state and community at large, particularly in areas such as education, health and the children protection”.
The Zonal Controller also said the gathering was to discuss ways to sensitise and create awareness among people, even at the grassroots level, in all results of the study and ensure success of the important study.
“Let us work together to make this study and event a success and contribute to the development of our state and Nigeria at large.”, she appealed.
Presenting a goodwill message on behalf of the Statistician -Generals in the South East zone, the representative, Enugu state Statistician -General, Dr Okafor Christopher, said the event marks the beginning and end of a lengthy process.
Dr. Okafor Christopher, presenting a goodwill message.
” This is because it marks, technically, the end of movement of rigorous social training of statisticians, economists and computer scientists drawn from the relevant ministries, departments and agencies from the five states of the Southeast.”, Okafor said ..
He disclosed that the participants were majorly drawn from the National Bureau of Statistics, the State Bureau of Statistics. the ministries of education and health,
Dr Okafor added that the interviewers were driven through the technicalities of interviewing households for the purpose of collecting diverse sets of data at the household level, using both the paper-assisted personal interview and the computer-assisted personal interview techniques.
” They were trained by a set of highly dedicated and experienced facilitators from the National Bureau of Statistics, who were committed to stepping down their knowledge for the success of the programme. As great teachers, they were like candles that burned out themselves in order to light the fire.
“The facilitators were from the General Household Survey, the field services and methodology, the real sector, gender and social statistics, information and communication technology, as well as the administrative departments of the MIGS.
“This interdisciplinary approach”, he said , is intended to optimise the training outcomes, given the multifocal nature of MIGS.
He explained that ,”the intensity of the training derives from the fact that MIGS is one of the important surveys conducted by MDAs and supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, since 1995.
Participants at the event.
*MIGS has a very robust and comprehensive methodology and has been conducted in Nigeria since 1995, at an approximate interval of four years. MIGS is the largest source of statistically sound nationally and sub-nationally representative data on children, women, men, and the general household, women and household in Nigeria.
“It is a globally comparable and child-centric survey that has provided valuable insights into the projects made by MIGS so far in Nigeria, Nigeria’s human capital development and education reform efforts, as well as providing data to measure Nigeria’s achievements in many of the indicators,” he said.
Keynote address was delivered by the Statistician- General of the federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran. He said MICS is government owned- Household survey and each round is developmental in progress.
Represented by the South East Zonal controller of NBS, Mrs Nkechi Okafor, Adeniran said ,”MICS is unique because it focuses on children and provides high quality data. It assesses the situation of children, women, men and the entire household., identifies disparity, collate data and goes beyond data collection.
Adeniran said MICS7 is not for NBS alone, it brings all stakeholders together.” It is a powerful- evidence based for inclusive development”, he said..
He appealed to the households that that will be selected for data collection to open their doors for the field officers and provide reliable information that will help formulate good policies that will affect lives positively.
