In a bid to change people’s perception towards Population and Housing census in the country, the National Population Commission (NpopC) has commenced advocacy and public enlightenment of stakeholders towards the forthcoming exercise.
It said this became imperative as the major challenges of census taking in Nigeria was the issue of acceptability.
While delivering his keynote address at a retreat on media, public relations and public speaking techniques for Chairman and Federal Commissioners of the Commission, the Chairman, Hon Nasir Isa Kwarra, said contentious issues about previous censuses have little to do with the technical capacity of the Commission, rather the major problem has been the psyche of Nigerians and their perception of the use of census.
“Politicisation of census in the past has made people see census exercise as an avenue for revenue sharing rather than for developmental and planning purpose,” he said.
In view of this, he stressed the importance of publicity and advocacy in the successful implementation of the Commission’s activities.
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“There is the compelling need to change this negative orientation, dissolve apathy, remove bias, cultivate public ownership and secure the cooperation of stakeholders and development partners.
“It is in recognition of this fact that the Commission decided to sharpen the technical knowledge of the Chairman and members of the Commission as policymakers to effectively engage the stakeholders to convince them of desirability of the next census using a wide frange of modern communication tools in consonance with international best practices,” he added.
He noted that for Nigerians to willingly submit themselves to be counted in the census, they must be properly educated and informed on what is expected of them.
Kwarra stressed that the exercise was a major operation that involves huge resources and logistics, hence requiring understanding, cooperation and support of all Nigerians and beyond.
“This can only be achieved when the Government and people of Nigeria are properly sensitized on their expected roles and need for their support,” the Chairman stated.
While urging Nigerians to see census as a purely statistical exercise whose purpose is for planning, he called for the cooperation of the State and Local Government especially traditional rulers in mobilizing and sensitising their subjects on the need to support the exercise.
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