Promoting and Sustaining a Virile Statistical Laboratory in Nigeria's Premier University: Lesson from UI-LISA Experience

• Published in: Promoting Statistical Practice and Collaboration in Developing Countries pp. 95 - 109
• Main Authors: Olubusoye, Olusanya Elisa, Alaba, Oluwayemisi, Folorunso, Serifat, Akintande, Olalekan J., Vance, Eric A.
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: CRC Press 2022
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: SCS; Senior Secondary Curricula; Undergraduate Statistics Programs; Exponential Ratio Type Estimator; Vice Versa; Statistical Laboratory; HPD Interval; NGO Project; Data Science Practice; Lab Coordinator; Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis; INEC; Pennsylvania State University; Statistical Consulting Centers; Statistical Literacy; LISA; Data Science Skills; Statistical Collaboration; Undergraduate Statistics Students; Education System; Ordinary Differential Equations; Big Data Prediction; Local Community Non-profits; ASA Section; Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model; Statistical Consulting; HPD; Non-technical Skills
• ISBN: 103219555X; 9781032195551; 1032198508; 9781032198507
• DOI: 10.1201/9781003261148-10

Although the University of Ibadan is the first university in Nigeria, with a very rich history starting in 1948 as an independent college of the University of London, the idea of having an interdisciplinary statistical laboratory was never considered until very recently. Patronage for statistical advice and counselling by non-statisticians was a very rare and statistical collaboration between statisticians and non-statisticians in the university was at the lowest ebb. Even with the establishment of the Department of Statistics over 40 years ago, most statistics courses were rarely taught by lecturers with academic qualifications in statistics. Before the establishment of the interdisciplinary statistical laboratory, now popularly called the University of Ibadan Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis (UI-LISA), our students were exposed only to the theoretical aspects of statistical training with illustrations drawn mostly from data used in foreign textbooks. The students regularly expressed concerns about the practicability and relevance of many of the courses and topics covered in their classes. Numerous university researchers struggled to understand and use statistical tools needed for their research, sometimes leading to serious abuse of the procedures or drawing invalid and twisted inferences. The establishment of UI-LISA and its official recognition as a member of the LISA 2020 Network has not only rejuvenated statistical collaboration in Nigeria's Premier University but has increased the enthusiasm of our statistical collaborators and student populace. Three original programmes were designed to change the tide: the One Hour with a Statistician, the Mobile Statistical Clinic, and Collaborative Training Workshops. The emergence of UI-LISA and its experience in the implementation of these and other programmes is elicited in this chapter. Patronage for statistical advice and counselling by non-statisticians was a very rare and statistical collaboration between statisticians and non-statisticians in the university was at the lowest ebb. The vision to create twenty stat labs in developing countries by 2020 has been vigorously pursued by Prof. Eric Vance since 2012. The overriding objective of the LISA 2020 Programme is to build statistics and data science capacity in developing countries by creating a robust network of statistics and data science collaboration laboratories. The laboratory presently enjoys a good reputation and patronage among the university community. The environment of operation is becoming friendlier and more cooperative than when the laboratory was launched in 2015. Overall, UI-LISA is doing the work of a statistical lab, and despite many challenges UI-LISA has demonstrated remarkable resilience in striving to achieve its vision and mission.