RESEARCH OF NIGERIA

In God we trust; all others must bring data. Facts, not fats; Figures, not figos

In God we trust; all others must bring data. Facts, not fats; Figures, not figos

Introducing Research of Nigeria

Accurate and comprehensive data on several socioeconomic issues in Nigeria are scarce, due to several factors: poor numeracy, low critical thinking skills, poor funding and the fractured structure of Nigeria due to the various ethnic groups with competing interests. This has led to people, especially netizens, putting up statements online based on trust me bro, dem tell me say, I no fit lie give you primarily sourced from the National Bureau of Imaginary Statistics. This has led to many mendacious tales about issues that bother Nigeria and its broader society at home and abroad. I aim to ensure these issues are researched in-depth with interesting infographics so that even the most attention-span reader digests the information in one go. Also, parameters will be provided to show readers the “workings”, that is, what made up the research, how it was formed and questions that were asked. Hard questions would be asked and researched to the deepest levels to know where we are coming from and where we are headed. History is important as it tells us our origins and guides us into the future.

Unfortunately, history was not taught to young Nigerians in schools due to the historical events, ethnic composition and competing interests in Nigeria. This has made us (Nigerians) not know certain things that happened and why. Even when accurate research has been published, there is a dearth of intellectual commentary behind the discourse due to the various ethnic interests. People mostly argue from an emotional point of view to spite the other ethnic group(s) and even genders, especially female folks. Most Nigerians aim to win the argument based on ethnic or gender superiority, not based on hard facts, which is supported by research. In my opinion, this is not good as it does more harm than good to public discourse.

The first of our group's motto is inspired by the American statistician and mathematician William Edwards Deming, who worked across fields in the US and Japan. He is widely known for coining the phrase emphasising data rather than personal conjectures. The second was obtained from a TwitterNG discourse. As I do argue on online forums, I would not believe a random commenter who makes a definitive statement. Should readers believe a random commentator or a research article which has been peer-reviewed? Certainly not the former, and most definitively, it has to be the latter.

Our questions would be hard (synonymous to the BBC Show “HardTalk” with Stephen Sackur), so we answer from the roots through their stems to the top. We will not succumb to personal interests or emotional reasons to distort these facts but present them and even question ourselves when we comment on them. For instance, there have been many first-class graduates from Nigerian universities, both public and private. A simple question can be: What was the best-graduating student score in his/her JAMB(UTME) and WASSCE (WAEC) examinations? This can lead to many questions, such as: did the BGS attain high academic scores right from primary school to tertiary levels? If not, why did the person finish as the best? How does the CGPA compare to neighbouring institutions and contemporaries in similar courses? Basically, why, how, what, when, which, etc., questions would be asked and have to be answered by looking at different reasons.

I did this on Nairaland: https://www.nairaland.com/7763389/top-jamb-scorers-where-today, which looked at the highest JAMB scorers from 2013 - 2023. That singular compilation leads to questions such as: what were their WASSCE grades? JAMB scores? Their career trajectories? Does a high JAMB score lead to a high CGPA? If not, why? If yes, why? Is there a consistent trajectory of high academic achievers from primary to tertiary levels? If so, what are the reasons? Why do they happen? If not, why? What made it inconsistent? Why did the highest JAMB and WAEC scorers in a particular university and course not attain the highest CGPA point?

We would begin with academics, as I am interested in high academic achievers. One of my regrets in life is not finishing with a first class. Maybe if I had studied Economics or Finance at undergraduate levels (my best WASSCE grades were in Economics rather than Biology), I would have attained a first class. However, my math skills were poor to write JAMB. If I were to do undergraduate again when I entered the university, I would spend a year learning mathematics with a tutor to hone it and, most likely, perform excellently in undergrad economics. Some of my closest friends and buddies are/were high academic achievers. I had and still do have a predilection for first-class achievers and like looking at their trajectories from the primary level to the eventual post-graduation stage.

About me: I am graduate student at an Imperial University in Japan

Introducing Research of Nigeria