President Muhammadu Buhari condoles with family, friends and associates of Dr. Simon Harry, the Statistician-General of the Federation, who passed away Wednesday.
Also commiserating with the government and people of Plateau State on the loss of an illustrious citizen, and noting his exemplary contributions to the evolution of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and developmental planning of the country, President Buhari pays tribute to the late Statistician-General worked conscientiously with previous heads of the organisation in recent years, providing relevant data to government and making the NBS a point of reference on various issues affecting the country.
The President affirms that with his appointment in August, 2021, Dr Harry ensured that the organisation where he had put in three decades continued to be relevant in taking crucial decisions in the country, urging colleagues in the field of data gathering and analysis, especially at the NBS, to take solace in the fact that having risen to the pinnacle of his career, the late Dr Harry put in his best in the service of the country.
He prays that God will repose his soul and comfort the family in this time of grief.
Recall that when an online publication published a story on Dr. Harry’s death nine days ago, his office vehemently denied, but after his death on Wednesday, the office issued a statement.
It said, “The Board, management and staff of National Bureau of Statistics(NBS), with a deep sense of loss, announce the passing on of the Statistician General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of NBS, Dr. Simon Harry, in the early hours of today, Wednesday, April 13th 2022 after a brief illness”, said a statement Wednesday, by the NBS Director, Communication and Public Relations Department, Sunday Ichedi.
Dr Harry started his public career in the then Federal Office of Statistics in 1992 and rose through the ranks to become the Statistician General of the Federation on August 26th 2021.
Born on the 15th of March, 1965 in Lishin – Jengre of Plateau State, Dr Harry attended L.E.A. Primary School, Tuddai, Kaduna State (1974 – 1980); Amo Community Secondary School, Katako Jengre, Plateau State (1980 – 1985; from where he obtained his first school leaving certificate and the West African Examination Council (WAEC) certificates respectively.
The late Statistician General was admitted into the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria (1987 – 1990) and graduated with a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) honours degree in Economics, after which he earned his Post-Graduate Diploma in Statistics from the University of Ibadan in 1997. Dr. Harry later attended the University of Abuja from 2014 – 2017 for his Master of Science (M.Sc) degree in Economics and also his Ph.D in Economics.
The late Statistician General was a member of many professional bodies in Nigeria and abroad. The deceased was happily married and his marriage is blessed with children.
Denying his death over a week ago, spokesman for the Bureau gave an impression that his ailment was mild.
“There is no iota of truth in what was published by the online medium and considers the publication as the height of irresponsible journalism and a figment of the imagination of the publisher.”
According to Ichedi, “Now the fact of the matter is that the Statistician General was slightly indisposed on Saturday and following medication, is now recuperating.
“We are well certain that he would, in a matter of few days, be back to his desk and continue his work in repositioning the NBS as the foremost national statistics agency in Africa and among the best globally.
“We are all mortals and by nature sometimes get weary. That is the case of the Statistician General now and it is not unusual for anybody to get sometimes get (sic) weary in the course of daily endeavours.
“We are using this to advice the general public to completely discountenance the purported death of the Statistician General by a disreputable online medium, which has been noted for ‘irresponsible and fake news journalism’ since it deputed.
“While thanking those that have expressed concern about the health situation of the Statistician General in the past few hours following the ‘junk’ from the online medium, we are urging our other media to kindly disseminate the content of this press release as widely as possible in line with best industry practices.”