A Statistical Response to the SBM Intelligence Quality of Life Survey (May 2026)
By Mrs. Akedoh Okoi Edet the State Statistician General
STATISTICAL RESPONSIBILITY AND METHODOLOGICAL BALANCE:
This submission is presented in the spirit of statistical responsibility, methodological balance, and evidence-based public discourse. It draws exclusively on nationally administered surveys, internationally validated data platforms, and the administrative records of Cross River State Government Agencies.
On 26 May 2026, SBM Intelligence published a Quality-of-Life survey ranking Cross River State last among eight States surveyed across twelve dimensions of family life, income adequacy, safety, school quality, healthcare access, housing affordability, childcare, family stability, power supply, waste management, affordability of living, and two further indicators. The survey, which sampled 442 respondents in the April–May 2026 phase and 191 respondents in January 2026 from a State population exceeding five million people, generated its ranking primarily from resident perceptions rather than from independently administered outcome measurements.
Perception surveys are a recognized and legitimate research instrument. Resident sentiment captures lived experience and is of legitimate policy value. However, perception indicators are shaped by factors that extend well beyond any state's administrative control: national inflation, fuel prices, exchange-rate depreciation, food costs, electricity infrastructure under federal jurisdiction, and the macroeconomic environment inherited from preceding administrations. Development measurement is multidimensional. No single perception index can sufficiently capture the complexity of public health outcomes, educational access, nutrition, sanitation, demographic transitions, institutional capacity, infrastructure, agriculture, fiscal resilience, and social-sector investment.
Objective structural indicators, derived from national surveys conducted with statistically representative sampling frames, measure what has actually been built, delivered, and achieved on the ground. Both dimensions matter. Both must be assessed. This submission places Cross River State's measurable structural performance alongside the perception data, so that the full developmental picture may be read in context.
NATIONAL MACROECONOMIC CONTEXT:
Any state-level quality of life assessment conducted in 2025–2026 must be read against the backdrop of one of the most severe macroeconomic contractions in Nigeria's recent history
The following nationally verified indicators establish that the welfare pressures documented in the SBM survey are structural and nationwide, not specific to Cross River State.
Multidimensional Poverty
According to the Nigeria Multidimensional Poverty Index (2022), published by the National Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with UNDP, UNICEF, OPHI, and NASSCO, 133 million Nigerians, representing 63 percent of the national population, were classified as multidimensional poor. Rural deprivation reached 72 percent against 42 percent in urban areas. Nationally, 51 percent of Nigerians were deprived in sanitation, 32 percent in healthcare access, and over 85 percent in access to clean cooking fuel. These figures confirm that welfare pressures are national structural challenges, not conditions unique to any single state.
Inflation and Purchasing Power
The World Bank Nigeria Development Update (2024) reported that Nigeria's headline inflation exceeded 33 percent during 2024, with food inflation surpassing 40 percent across several months of the year. Exchange-rate depreciation following the 2023 liberalization policy and energy-price adjustments substantially reduced household purchasing power across all 36 states. The African Development Bank's West Africa Economic Outlook 2024 similarly identified inflationary pressure, energy costs, exchange-rate instability, and food insecurity as the primary drivers of declining welfare perceptions across Nigeria and the wider West African sub-region. The World Bank's most recent Nigeria country data (2025) confirms that over 60 percent of Nigerians remained below the national poverty line, with food inflation disproportionately affecting poor households who allocate up to 70 percent of income to food.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) General Household Survey–Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 (2023/2024), which sampled households across Nigeria including Cross River State, revealed significant welfare pressures affecting both rural and urban households nationwide. According to the survey, 65.8% of households could not afford healthy and nutritious meals, 63.8% were forced to consume limited food varieties due to financial constraints, 62.4% worried about not having enough food to eat, while 60.5% reported eating less food than required because of prevailing economic hardship. The report further showed that 20.8% of households resorted to borrowing food or depending on relatives and friends for feeding support, underscoring the broader national pressure on household resilience, purchasing power, and access to basic welfare needs.
HEALTHCARE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Child Immunization
The Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2023–24 (NDHS 2023–24), conducted by the National Population Commission and ICF between December 2023 and May 2024 and officially launched in October 2025, provides the most recent nationally representative data on child health.
Nationally, the survey documents that only approximately one-third of children aged 12–23 months are fully vaccinated, reflecting slow progress in routine immunization coverage across the country. DTP1 coverage nationally stood at 71 percent, DTP3 at 67 percent, and measles at 57 percent (WHO/UNICEF WUENIC 2024 estimates).
Cross River State has a documented history of above-average immunization performance relative to national benchmarks. Peer-reviewed research published in BMC Public Health (2025) confirms that immunization uptake in Cross River consistently exceeds the South-South geopolitical zone average. Cross River's community engagement model, which deploys traditional and religious leaders as immunization advocates, was validated in a cluster-randomized controlled trial (Oyo-Ita et al., 2021, PLOS ONE) that demonstrated significant increases in vaccination coverage through that approach. The current administration, in partnership with the World Bank and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, is renovating and fully equipping 82 Primary Health Centres across all 18 local government areas specifically to sustain and improve this performance.
Antenatal Care and Skilled Birth Attendance
Nationally, the NDHS 2023–24 reported that skilled birth attendance reached approximately 46–52 percent nationally (an improvement from 43 percent in NDHS 2018), though antenatal care coverage declined to 63 percent, down from 67 percent in 2018, reflecting the impact of economic hardship on health-seeking behaviour across Nigeria. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) 2023 update confirms that improved access to maternal health services and reductions in open defecation remain critical determinants of reductions in communicable disease burden, environmental health risks, and child mortality.
Healthcare Infrastructure
According to the Cross River State Facts and Figures 2024 Edition published by the Cross River State Bureau of Statistics, the state maintains a comprehensive health infrastructure network distributed across all 18 local government areas. All 196 wards in the state now have at least one functioning Primary Health Centre. In partnership with the World Bank, 82 Primary Health Centres are currently being renovated, solar-powered, staffed with residential quarters, and equipped for 24-hour service delivery. At the secondary healthcare level, dialysis centres at General Hospitals in Calabar and Ogoja are under rehabilitation; a new General Hospital is under construction in Ikom; the Cottage Hospital in Oban is being reconstructed; and the Fistula Centre at the General Hospital Calabar has been equipped and made fully operational. Medical oxygen plants have been commissioned in Calabar and Ogoja in partnership with UNICEF, and a Universal Health Coverage Coordination Centre has been established to provide real-time monitoring of healthcare service delivery across the state.
The Sweet Prince Palliative Healthcare Programme provides free medical services to pregnant women, children under five years of age, and citizens aged 70 and above. The State Health Insurance Scheme is operational to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure.
WATER, SANITATION, AND HYGIENE (WASH) INDICATORS
Cross River State holds a nationally recognized distinction in the area of open defecation elimination. According to UNICEF Nigeria WASH reports and the validated records of the National Task Group on Sanitation, Cross River's Obanliku Local Government Area became the first LGA in Nigeria to attain certified Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, a benchmark achievement that subsequently catalyzed replication across the country. As of 2023, Cross River State had six certified ODF local government areas (Obanliku, Bekwarra, Yala, Ikom, Boki, and Yakurr), the highest number of any state in the South-South geopolitical zone. By 2024, the Cross River State Bureau of Statistics documents continued expansion of ODF-certified communities within additional LGAs.
Over 500,000 residents have benefited from sanitation behavioral-change interventions implemented through the state-wide WASH programme and the Clean Cross River initiative, as documented by UNICEF Nigeria. Calabar, the state capital, has consistently been independently recognized as one of Nigeria's cleanest and most environmentally managed cities.
It is important to note, as UNICEF itself has acknowledged, that open defecation elimination remains a continuing challenge: significant proportions of residents in both rural and urban communities across the state continue to lack adequate toilet access, and only 31 percent of schools in the state had basic sanitation facilities as of the most recent UNICEF WASH assessment. The administration's ongoing engagement of international partners specifically targets these remaining gaps.
EDUCATION SECTOR INDICATORS
The Cross River State Facts and Figures 2024 Edition documents that public primary school enrolment increased from approximately 457,000 pupils in the 2021 academic year to over 492,000 pupils based on validated 2022/2023 administrative returns, representing approximately 7.7 percent growth. Junior Secondary School enrolment exceeded 168,000 students during the same reporting period. Female participation rates in basic education improved across multiple local government areas between 2021 and 2023, aligned with ongoing educational access programmes supported through UBEC, UNICEF, and state-level interventions.
The current administration has paid West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) fees for eligible indigenous students for three consecutive years, removing a significant financial barrier for approximately 16,301 registered examination candidates in 2024 and 14,804 students in 2025. Academic quality interventions yielded a documented 72.1% success rate in the 2024 WAEC examination, with candidates securing a minimum of 5 credits including English Language and Mathematics, far outperforming historic sub-national averages.
Reforms across primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions have expanded educational opportunities with particular attention to reducing dropout rates. The state's teacher-to-population ratio ranks among the stronger performers nationally (ranked 6th in public teachers per population according to the Public Sector Performance Index).
It is acknowledged, however, that SBM survey respondents specifically
identified better-equipped schools, timely teacher deployment, and expansion of rural educational services as priority concerns, responses that align with documented infrastructure gaps in the state's more remote local government areas.
AGRICULTURE AND ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Agricultural Production
According to the Cross River State Facts and Figures 2024 Edition and the Cross River State Gross Domestic Product Report (2023), agriculture contributed ₦4.19 trillion out of a total state GDP of ₦8.17 trillion, equivalent to 51.29 percent of the state's economic output. Cross River State is one of Nigeria's principal agricultural producers, with sustained output across cassava, rice, maize, cocoa, yam, and oil palm.
Cassava production has remained above one million metric tonnes annually across recent reporting years. Cocoa production expanded significantly across the Boki, Etung, Ikom, and Obubra agricultural belts, positioning the state as an important contributor to Nigeria's export commodity base.
Under the World Bank-assisted Fadama NG-CARES platform, Cross River State achieved the 1st place regional ranking in the South-South zone for three consecutive evaluation cycles (2023, 2024, and 2025). Nationally, the state ranked 2nd in 2023, 3rd in 2024, and returned to 2nd place in 2025, validating its programmatic dominance in food security interventions.
Roads Infrastructure
Cross River State has recorded one of its most aggressive infrastructural expansions in recent history, with 608.5 kilometers of roads delivered across the state’s three senatorial districts between May 2023 and April 2026. The figure, released by the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, underscores the “People First” governance mantra. The road projects have been designed to restore public confidence, revive rural economies, and improve security and institutional access.
Power Infrastructure and Renewable Energy
Under Governor Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu, Cross River State has made significant progress in power infrastructure and renewable energy development. The administration advanced the Electricity Act Bill 2023 to strengthen the legal framework for private investment and improved power access. The state also took over the 26MW Adiabo Power Plant and initiated plans for an additional 21MW plant, bringing projected expansion capacity to 47MW. Across the State, over 37km of vandalized 33kV power lines were rehabilitated, while 32 transformers were deployed to stabilize electricity supply. In urban infrastructure, 900 solar street lights and digital traffic control systems were installed across Calabar, Ikom, Ugep, and Ogoja to improve security and traffic safety. Through the State Electrification Agency, 8 sub-station and rural grid restoration projects were completed across multiple LGAs, alongside the deployment of 1MW renewable energy systems to public institutions and communities.
Fiscal Performance
BudgIT's State of States Report (2024 edition) ranked Cross River State in the top 5 of fiscal performance nationally and confirmed that Cross River was among states able to generate internally generated revenue sufficient to cover approximately 50 percent of operating costs, a significant achievement for a predominantly agrarian state without oil revenue.
It is important, in the interest of statistical integrity, to note that the BudgIT State of States Report (2025 edition) recorded a significant decline for Cross River, with the state dropping from 5th to 30th position in the overall fiscal performance ranking. This shift reflects the fiscal pressures of 2024, including a 256 percent increase in external debt servicing costs in the first half of 2024, driven by naira depreciation and foreign-denominated debt exposure. The Cross River State Government has acknowledged these pressures and, in the first half of 2025, reported surpassing IGR targets for the January–June period, with the Accountant General attributing the improvement to innovations in the state accounting system and transition to International Standards of Accounting.
The Cross River State Bureau of Statistics (2024 edition) documents that the state's Internally Generated Revenue grew from approximately ₦13.57 billion in 2015 to ₦46.30 billion in 2024, representing approximately 241 percent nominal growth over the period. This trajectory, while subject to the macroeconomic volatility of 2024, reflects the underlying revenue mobilization capacity being built.
Tourism
Tourism statistics in the Cross River State Facts and Figures 2024 Edition document that tourist arrivals grew from approximately 62,000 in 2023 to over 300,000 in 2024–2025. The Carnival Calabar, one of Africa's largest annual cultural festivals, continues to drive hospitality sector activity, with the state government recording hospitality establishment grants to recipients across all three senatorial districts in 2023–2024.
CONTEXTUALISING THE SBM INTELLIGENCE FINDINGS
The SBM Intelligence Quality of Life Survey (May 2026) is a perception survey. Its methodology, as described in the published report, asked residents of eight states to rate twelve dimensions of family life. The survey is reader-supported and Substack-published, and the report itself acknowledges that the findings are drawn from what residents in each state reported.
The sample size applied to Cross River State, 442 respondents in the main survey phase and 191 in the January 2026 power survey, from a state population of over five million is a recognized methodological limitation in the context of generating state-level rankings. The Cross River State Government's formal rebuttal, published on 27 May 2026, characterized the sample as insufficient by credible statistical standards to represent the state's population and noted that the survey covered.
Only seven States (FCT, Anambra, Bauchi, Kano, Oyo, Rivers, and Cross River), excluding 29 states from any comparative framework.
These methodological observations do not invalidate the genuine lived experiences reported by survey respondents. Residents who report dissatisfaction with income adequacy, electricity access, road conditions, and school quality are reflecting real conditions. While the SBM report provides useful insight into citizen perceptions and lived experiences, its findings are best interpreted within the context of a perception-based assessment conducted at a specific point in time. Such studies may not fully capture longer-term reform trajectories, inherited structural conditions, or the wider body of administrative and service-delivery data available within official statistical systems and the national macroeconomic context within which those resident experiences are occurring.
Consequently, the report is most appropriately considered as one dimension of evidence within a broader framework for assessing governance and developmental performance.
Public perception during a period of 33-plus percent national inflation, 40-plus percent food inflation, currency depreciation, and nationwide electricity distribution challenges will naturally reflect hardship, regardless of which state a resident lives in. The SBM survey's own top-ranked states, Kano and Rivers, are subject to the same macroeconomic environment. Perception rankings in such conditions tend to reflect relative social capital, community cohesion, and cost-of-living comparisons rather than absolute developmental outcomes.
*CONCLUSION*
Development measurement requires both honest acknowledgement of challenges and rigorous recognition of progress. Cross River State continues to face important developmental deficits: unemployment pressures, infrastructure gaps in rural communities, the legacy of fiscal constraints, and the pervasive impact of national inflation on household welfare. These are real conditions and they are not disputed.
However, the objective evidence drawn from NDHS 2023–24, the NBS Multidimensional Poverty Index (2022), UNICEF WASH documentation, the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme, the World Bank, BudgIT's fiscal analysis, and the Cross River State Bureau of Statistics publications collectively establishes the following:
➢ Cross River State is the South-South leader in open defecation elimination, with Obanliku LGA having been the first in Nigeria to achieve ODF certification.
➢ The state's community-based immunization model has been independently validated and outperforms geopolitical zone averages in available literature, even as national immunization coverage remains critically low.
➢ Agriculture contributes over 51 percent of the state's GDP, providing economic resilience outside the oil-revenue dependency that constrains many Nigerian states.
➢ Internally Generated Revenue grew by approximately 241 percent between 2015 and 2024, demonstrating institutional revenue mobilization capacity.
➢ Active investments, in partnership with the World Bank, UNICEF, UNFPA, and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, are converting structural commitments into operational healthcare, education, and sanitation outcomes.
➢ And other positive outcomes from sectors not captured in this submission.
The responsibility of statistics is not selective interpretation but comprehensive evidence. The developmental realities of Cross River State are multidimensional, dynamic, and meaningfully more balanced than a perception ranking of 442 respondents, conducted during a period of extreme national macroeconomic pressure, can reflect. Both the genuine challenges and the verified progress deserve equal and transparent recognition in public discourse.
