By ENITAN ABEL JOHNGOLD ORHERUATA, mnipr
In a bid to enhance effective planning, decision-making, and service delivery, the Delta State Ministry of Economic Planning, in collaboration with Universal Investment and Development Company Limited (UIDC), on Thursday commenced a three-day intensive workshop on Data Analysis and Visualization for selected civil servants in the state.
The capacity-building programme is holding at the 6th Floor of the Prof. Chike Edozien Secretariat, Mariam Babangida Way, Asaba, and is designed to equip participants with modern digital skills required to process and interpret data for informed governance.
Declaring the workshop open on behalf of the Commissioner for Economic Planning, Mr. Sonny Ekedayen, the Director of Statistics in the Ministry, Ms. Nkechi Maduemezia, underscored the critical role of data in modern governance, describing it as “the new oil” that drives strategic development.
“Data is information. Data is life. Data is the future,” she said. “Analysis is talking to the data, and visualization allows you to see and interact with it without being physically present. With the right data tools, decisions can be made faster and more accurately, even by non-technical users.”
Maduemezia, a member of both the Computer Professionals of Nigeria and the Nigerian Statistical Association, urged participants to pay keen attention, ask questions, and fully engage in the sessions. According to her, embracing data technology would make civil servants more agile and capable of supporting decision-makers through clear, visualized insights.
In his remarks, Dr. Timothy Igbinosa, Head of Corporate Strategy and Planning, represented by Mr. Godwin Mukoro, CEO of UIDC, emphasized the urgency for public servants to embrace digital transformation.
“We live in a digital age, phones, vehicles, the internet, everything is driven by technology,” Mukoro said. “We must intentionally run fast to catch up with global civilization. The gap we discovered between current practices and modern data analysis methods inspired this workshop. We must not be left behind.”
He identified three categories of civil servants in the digital era: those with little or no capacity for digital tools, those who know the tools but fail to apply them, and the very few who effectively utilize them. He challenged participants to “think outside the box, change templates, and drive innovation” within the public service for better policy outcomes.
Also speaking, Mr. Gbe Lewis, a capital market consultant, reaffirmed UIDC’s commitment to supporting the state through training and capacity development initiatives.
“UIDC is a finance and management development company owned by the Delta State Government and supervised by the Ministry of Finance. We are proud to support this workshop because data analysis and visualization are essential for growth and efficiency,” he stated.
He praised the Ministry of Economic Planning for its strategic role in driving service delivery across the state and expressed confidence that the training would significantly enhance the participants’ analytical skills.
The three-day workshop will feature practical sessions on data handling, analysis, and visualization tools, enabling participants to better support government planning and policy formulation through evidence-based decision-making.
