Suyi Ayodele
The National Population Commission (NPC) has decried the low turnout that characterised the trial census held as a prelude to the general headcount from March 29 to April 2, 2023.
The Commission, therefore, called on the media to accelerate the level of publicity and public enlightenment on the coming exercise to galvanize the people to participate in the all important national exercise.
Appealing to Benin City, Edo State capital, at a one-day capacity building workshop organised for journalists, the Federal Commissioner, NPC, Edo state, Dr Tony Aiyejina, said that the importance of the census in national planning could not be overemphasized, hence the need for Nigerians to participate fully in the coming census exercise.
The workshop, he reiterated, was organised to put media practitioners in the state on the same scale as the Commission and ensure effective reporting of the 2023 population and housing census.
Aiyejina commended President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the census, which he said is greatly needed for national planning seventeen years after the last exercise in 2006.
He said that this year’s exercise would be fully digitized for the first time.
“Let nobody deceive you, this census will be accurate because the technology we are using cannot be compromised. Permit me to acknowledge the present administration’s bold decision under President Muhammad Buhari’s (GCFR) leadership to conduct a census for the country.
“The present Commission, leveraging on the Administration’s approval and support, decided to conduct a digital census for the country, the first of its kind in Nigeria. It was a paradigm shift of epochal proportions because all processes, before, during and after the census, will be conducted on digital platforms and devices.
“Nigerians need to be educated and enlightened on this new census method. That is why the media as the fourth estate of the realm, will play a critical and pivotal role in this census project. This is the main reason for holding this capacity-building workshop for journalists. It will allow them to understand basic concepts and methodology in census taking that will eventually result in effective reportage of the census”, Aiyejina said.
Welcoming participants to the workshop, the State Director of NPC, Mr Ayodele Okiei, said the census exercise would also help the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to make decisions in creating new constituencies, which he said would deepen Nigeria’s democracy.