Make we say di price of one basket of food rise for two countries wey share border. Before person talk which country families face di bigger increase, e need know wetin each basket carry and when dem collect di prices. Na dis matter of comparing things wey match dey behind di review of West African statistics wey dey go on for Lomé.
On 4 November, ECOWAS Commission report say im director for research and statistics don open workshop for Togo capital. Dem schedule di meeting from 3 reach 6 November. Officials wey handle different sectors dey examine di first draft of one regional book of yearly statistics before dem send am give Regional Technical Committee for approval.
Di draft use about 100 indicators wey di committee select. Di topics cover work, health, movement of people, farming, price of farm produce and wetin people consume. Dem cover transport too, wey concern trade. Di announcement explain wetin di book go cover. E no give any new figure for price or employment for Nigeria.
Work to agree on common methods start long before dis meeting. For 2021 di commission set up technical working group with national statistics offices and im sector departments. By April 2025 dem get one common questionnaire and instructions for reporting di indicators. Three experts for each member country get work to collect, put together and calculate figures.
Di officials for Lomé dey check whether di indicators fit di work, whether dem match across places and where dem need more data. Di longer plan na regional database and bulletin of statistics every year. Dis meeting na one step for dat road. Di timetable no give date when di approved book go come out.
Wetin e mean for you. If chart compare food prices or employment for Nigeria with figures for another West African country, check di period, di unit and wetin dem actually measure. Two numbers fit carry di same name but mean different things. Di work for Lomé concern di standards wey fit make dat comparison useful.