2023: Ondo stakeholders charge NPC on accurate, credible conduct of census

Stakeholders in Ondo State have charged the National Population Commission (NPC), to conduct a reliable and credible census that will be generally acceptable to all in 2023 and will be used for national planning.

The stakeholders who specifically warned the officials of the NPC against counting of animals as humans should not be avoided in the next year’s census.

Speaking during a stakeholders summit on the 2023 population and housing census tagged “Getting the People Involved” in Akure, Ondo state capital, the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, said the NPC would be doing Nigerians a great deal if the exercise were credible.

The monarch noted that the census will help the government in planning towards development of the Nigeria nation, especially in bolstering the social security programme that targets more vulnerable Nigerians.

He said the irregular and long interval of census in the country, has denied the nation the huge benefits of comprehensive baseline data for evidence-based decision-making

The leader of the organised labour, Comrade Gideon Bakare, urged the NPC not to repeat mistakes of the 2006 census by introducing technology and conducting the exercise online.

He said “Census is not about counting of animals. We want the NPC to correct mistakes of the past where officials ran out of materials in the field.”

Ondo Chairman of the National Youth Congress, Comrade Lawrence Adebayo, said all eyes were on the NPC to conduct credible census, assuring that Nigerian youths would mobilised to support the NPC in the area of manpower and conducive environment across the state.

The state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu who was represented by his Deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, said the country’s inability to conduct a population census in the last 16 years has created an information vacuum, noting that the data from the last census has been rendered less useful for planning purposes.

The Governor stated called for implementation of programmes and policies that would be driven by the 2023 Census data.

“We require a new data set to drive the implementation of the recently launched revised National Policy on Population for Sustainable Development and other government policies in Ondo state.

” The 2023 Census data is also needed to tackle the security challenges bedeviling the country as it will give an overview of the population: where they are and who they are. We are delighted with the promise by the Commission that it will deploy technology to ensure the conduct of the first fully digital census in Nigeria.

“This census methodology will enhance the data quality, inspire the confidence of the Nigerian people and acceptability of the census results.

“Knowing the population of Ondo State and using the data to plan for the people and future generations is a collective duty we owe this country.

“We must all resolve that this duty is satisfactorily carried out in the firm belief that what has joined us together as a country and our common destiny are far stronger than the negative forces that tend to drive us apart.”

Ondo State Federal Commissioner, NPC, Prince Oladiran Iyantan, assured Nigerians that the census would be transparent, credible and meet national and international standards, saying NPC would deploy technology that will enhance the data quality, inspire the confidence of the Nigerian people and acceptability of the census results.

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