Simon Harry, statistician-general, dies seven months after appointment

Simon Harry, the statistician-general of the federation, is dead

He died on Wednesday morning in Abuja.

Harry was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2021 to replace Yemi Kale as statistician-general of the federation to head the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The rumour of his death went around at the weekend but was debunked by the NBS.

Sunday Ichedi, head of communication & public relations department, confirmed to TheCable in a telephone conversation that the NBS chief died this morning.

Harry joined the erstwhile Federal Office of Statistics as statistician 11 in 1992 and rose to the position of director of statistics in 2019.

Before his appointment as the statistician-general of the federation. Harry was the director of corporate planning and technical coordination, department of the NBS — with almost three decades of statistical experience.

“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,” Ichedi said in a statement.

“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.

“Dr Harry started his public career in 1992 when he joined the then Federal Office of Statistics and rose through the ranks to become a director before his appointment as the Statistician-General of the Federation on August 26th 2021.

“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.”