Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Alhaji Nasir Isa Kwarra, has given Nigerians the assurance that the commission will conduct a credible and accurate census that will meet the yearnings all this time around.
The NPC’s helmsman gave the assurance when a delegation of Blueprint Newspapers Ltd., led by its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Malam Salisu Umar, paid a courtesy visit to the Corporate Headquarters of the Commission in Abuja, Tuesday.
Alhaji Kwarra anchored his optimism on the digitalisation of the entire operations of the commission, which has moved away from the analogue, manual system with all its challenges.
He recalled that in the bygone years when census activities were conducted manually, the results were dogged by accusations and counter-claims from across the country.
“It was customary for one section of the country to accuse the other of counting domestic animals like goats and sheep to inflate figures, while another insisted that fishes were enumerated to their own advantage,” he said.
He gave the assurance that biometric census would eliminate such mutual suspicion.
The NPC boss, while stressing the importance of accurate headcount, noted that “census goes beyond banding of figures.” He said that the nation cannot plan for its development without availability of credible statistics across the board.
Alhaji Kwarra recalled the efforts made in recent times to conduct the exercise, which was supposed to be a 10-yearly programme but had been stymied by the exigencies of the times, especially during the Jonathan and Buhari regimes and informed his guests that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu “is favourably disposed to having an accurate and credible headcount.”
“Mr. President knows the value of accurate demographic data and he is keen that the exercise is conducted but we have been asked to go back to the drawing board to redo our budget in tune with the reality of the nation’s current financial strength,” he said.
He said the NPC would explore collaboration with the private sector to also fund the exercise.
During the visit, which had some of the federal commissioners and top management staff in attendance, the visitors were regaled with the comprehensive graphic presentations to underscore the level of preparation by the commission and as an indication that it was ready to deliver a headcount that would be acceptable to all Nigerians.
Earlier in his remarks, the Managing Director of Blueprint Newspapers Ltd., Malam Umar, told his hosts the importance of the visit, which, among others, was to open a door of collaboration between the two organisations. He described the interaction as educative and informative, stressing that the paper would be better positioned to partner with the commission for reportage of the huge task ahead.
He emphasised that the NPC was an important organ of the government, noting that “there cannot be meaningful progress, equity and fairness when the country is run without accurate census.”
“Census is the bedrock of development of a nation. Without it, its leaders will be groping in the dark in terms of planning and allocations of resources.”
In his remarks, the Editorial Director of Blueprint, Mr. Clem Oluwole, said the paper had been in the vanguard of accurate headcount for the country as exemplified by its sustained editorials, especially on the World Population Day observed on July 11, every year.
He urged the NPC to organise a training programme for journalists to sensitise them on the activities of the commission for better coverage.“