The nearly 20-year delay in the conduct of a fresh National Census has continued to portray Nigeria as a country that pays little attention to planning.
The former Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Nasir Kwarra, had disclosed at the anniversary of the Nairobi Summit on Population and Development last year that the commission would resume preparations for the conduct of a census.
Wittingly or unwittingly, Kwarra could not conduct the actual census despite years of preparations that so far guzzled billions of naira.
Following the expiration of his tenure, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has replaced Kwarra with Dr. Aminu Yusuf for a period of five years.
In retrospect, President Tinubu, at a meeting with officials of the NPC, assured that he would set up a committee to incorporate the budget requirements of the proposed census exercise into the current financial realities of the country. President Tinubu told the NPC that the census exercise must capture such essential biometric details as facial and voice recognition, among other critical features.
Alluding to the need to align the census exercise to the financial realities of the country, President Tinubu told the committee, “We should work on our financial muscle, well in place to lift our burden, before we go and meet development partners for the census. We should work out the figures before discussing the role of development partners.”
The Minister of Budget and Planning, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, whose ministry supervises the NPC and was also present at the meeting, disclosed that the ministry had been working towards developing synergy involving all the identity agencies on the census exercise. The Minister stated, “We have been having ecosystem meetings to link the identity agencies and even those in the geo-spatial assessment and management to this exercise. So, the NPC, National Bureau of Statistics, National Identity Management Commission, Ministry of Digital Economy, passport, social register, voters register, and even the telecoms agencies have been meeting with the National Space Research and Development Agency to see how much is available to the government regarding data and how much optimisation can take place.”
Nigerians will certainly be interested in the concerted efforts being made to ensure that the proposed census is held in a satisfactory manner. Indeed, Nigeria has been overdue for a census exercise, considering that the last census conducted in Nigeria was in 2006, which is contrary to the United Nations’ recommendation that countries must do it every 10 years.
Under the Muhammadu Buhari administration, there were attempts to hold a census in 2023, but it had to be postponed due to issues ranging from inadequate logistic arrangements, funding, and cost overrun. The looming elections in that year, which also posed significant challenges to the government in terms of resources and coordination, meant that the census, which was to take place that year, had to be postponed to a more convenient date.
But even at that, it must be emphasised that conducting a national census for a country like Nigeria is an imperative that cannot be avoided. From the last exercise to date, the population of the country has grown exponentially. Statistics continue to give differing figures of 200 million to 230 million and, in some cases, 250 million as the population of Nigeria. This clearly shows that not only do we lack a near-accurate figure of the number of people in the country, but such very critical data about population growth rates, male and gender population, and related data, which are necessary for national planning, are missing. These are the necessary ingredients for national development projection, which need to be updated regularly in line with global best practices, hence the requirement by the United Nations for a census to be done every 10 years.
Clearly, beyond the financial implications, we cannot dismiss the insinuation that relevant stakeholders are reluctant to conduct a census for political reasons.
But census is about expediency. It is about leadership and service delivery with accuracy. In serious countries, not a single classroom, health centre, water facility or security outpost will be established without recourse to census figures of the communities. Census helps in highlighting priorities.
Against this background, it is commendable that the government is showing signs of responsibility to conduct a census after all these years.
We strongly call the attention of authorities that apart from addressing logistical and other challenges associated with previous census exercises conducted in the country, they should immune the forthcoming exercise from political controversies. Very often, the population estimates of states and regions are hotly contested by partisan political interests, invariably casting a stain on the credibility of the census results.
We believe that the measures being taken by the government, in terms of widening the scope and involvement of relevant agencies and in using biometric systems of data capture, if sustained, will greatly address the issues that dogged previous census exercises. We, therefore, call on Nigerians to give their maximum support and cooperation once the exercise begins to roll out.
Source: Daily Trust