The Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics confirmed Wednesday that Simon Harry, the statistician-general who was appointed only a few months ago, had died. He was 57.
KAMPALA | NOW THEN DIGITAL — In a statement released on Wednesday, the National Bureau of Statistics confirmed that Simon Harry, Nigeria’s statistician-general who was appointed just seven months ago, has passed away. He was 57.
- NBS Director of Communication and Public Relations, Ichedi Joel, confirmed the death of Simon Harry, the country’s stats officer on Wednesday, in Abuja, saying, “The SG is dead, he died of an illness.”
- Mr Simon Harry was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2021 as the next statistician general of the federation.
- Prior to that, he was the Director of the Corporate Planning and Technical Coordination Department of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) with almost three decades of experience.
- Furthermore, he worked on the reform of the Nigerian Statistical System that led to the growth of the subnational state bureaus of statistics.
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As reported, Mr Simon Harry, the Statistician-General of the Federation and the head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), died last night after suffering from an undisclosed illness.
Reports are that Mr Harry was indisposed on Saturday and was given medical attention, but he did not survive.
With a deep sense of loss, the Board, Management and Staff of the National Bureau of Statistics, announce the passing of the Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the National Bureau of Statistics Dr. Simon B. Harry. pic.twitter.com/FWdu3TtSYX
— NBS Nigeria (@NBS_Nigeria) April 13, 2022
The National Bureau of Statistics confirmed the death of Simon Harry, the nation’s stats officer on Wednesday, in Abuja, as reported by Ichedi Joel, Director, Communication and Public Relations Department.
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He was quoted as saying: “It is not a rumour anymore, the SG is dead. He died from an illness.”
Dr. Harry passed away in the early hours of today, Wednesday, April 13th 2022 after a brief illness.
Until his passing, Dr. Harry was actively and passionately transforming the Bureau into a modern National Statistical Office.— NBS Nigeria (@NBS_Nigeria) April 13, 2022
He was a visionary leader, who led by example. He was kind and always tending to the needs of others.
He will be sorely missed.
May his soul Rest In Peace, and may God grant his family the fortitude to bear this loss.— NBS Nigeria (@NBS_Nigeria) April 13, 2022
Simon Harry succeeded Yemi Kale as statistician-general of the federation when President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him in August 2021.
Before then, he was the Director of NBS’s Corporate Planning and Technical Coordination Department, with more than 30 years of experience.
In 1992, Mr Henry joined the Federal Office of Statistics as a Statistician 11 and subsequently rose to the post of substantive Director of Statistics in 2019.
Over the course of his career, he contributed to several reform initiatives, including reforming the Federal Office of Statistics which became the National Bureau of Statistics.
Additionally, he contributed to the reform of the Nigerian Statistical System, which resulted in the creation of subnational state bureaus of statistics.
The allegations
It was reported over the weekend that Mr Harry had passed away, but 48 hours ago, the statistics office denied the reports.
“The bureau wishes to state that there is no iota of truth in what was published by an online medium and considers the publication as the height of irresponsible journalism and a figment of the imagination of the publisher.”
“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 a 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,” Joel had stated in a statement issued on Sunday.
