Census: Tinubu Expresses Concerns Over Delay, Pledges Support
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Census: Tinubu Expresses Concerns Over Delay, Pledges Support
By Alabidun Shuaib AbdulRahman
President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has expressed concerns regarding the delay in conducting a new enumeration since the last census exercise in 2006.
In response, he has pledged unwavering support for the National Population Commission (NPC) to carry out an accurate Population and Housing Census in the country anytime soon.
The President made the expressions while hosting the NPC Chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra, at the State House in Abuja recently.
He urged the NPC to perceive this delay as an opportunity to leverage the advantages of the current electronic and digital age.
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Tinubu stated, “It is disappointing that up until now we have not been able to conduct another enumeration of our people. I hope that this delay will be converted to a great opportunity in this electronic and digital age.
”The challenge is yours and I hope that during the demarcation you did, you would have noticed the migration of people to urban centers because of the extreme poverty and unemployment.
”Digitalizing the process will make your job easier and I don’t see why we don’t, by now, have a reliable database in Nigeria to identify ourselves and ascertain our numbers for planning purposes and in time of disaster.
”I have listened to you and we will support you. Accuracy and integrity of your data is very important to Nigerians and for our national economic development programmes.
Acknowledging the challenges faced by the NPC, Tinubu assured the commission of his support while emphasizing the significance of accuracy and integrity in census data for national economic development programs.
Responding, the NPC Chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra provided the President with a briefing on the Implementation Status of the 2023 Population and Housing Census.
Kwarra highlighted the funding challenges that have resulted in the postponement of the census and requested the issuance of a proclamation for a new census date later this year or early next year.
The NPC Boss further briefed the President, noting that the commission has demarcated the entire country, with only a few places remaining.
He stated that the commission has already trained 60,000 instructors who will subsequently train enumerators and supervisors.
In a paper titled “Implementation Status of the 2023 Population and Housing Census,” the NPC requested the release of the allocated N31 billion capital allocation in the 2023 budget for preparatory activities.
The commission estimated the total cost of the census, following a methodology review, at N546.72 billion.
Kwarra also requested an additional N225.2 billion for training and fieldwork allowances, retraining of trainers, and the conduct of a second-class Trial Census.
President Tinubu was also asked to approve and convene a stakeholders’ meeting with the organized private sector and foreign partners to mobilize funds for the census.
Kwarra informed the President that Nigeria has developed a useful database for national planning, infrastructure development, and revenue generation.
He emphasized that with a fully integrated spatial and statistical data, the NPC could generate up to $14 billion and save significant resources through the automation of economic planning by 2028.
