abstract
- 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.