Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has decried the irregular conduct of census in the country, saying the situation has made planning very difficult.
This is even as he charged the National Population Commission (NPC) not to allow the 2023 head count (census) to be politicised.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ summit on the 2023 population and housing census held at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre in Minna yesterday, Bello, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, said the irregular conduct of census has also deprived the country of data for proper planning.
He said: “Despite Nigeria’s high-ranking position on the global demographic map, its population censuses have been conducted irregularly and at intervals longer than the United Nations recommended 10 years.
“This irregular and long interval of census taking place in Nigeria has denied the country the huge benefits of comprehensive baseline data for evidence-based decision-making.”
The governor said for the state to record maximum success in its education, health and provision of infrastructure programmes, there is the need to ensure that further implementation of these programmes are driven by a more accurate, reliable, and acceptable population census data in the face of the dynamism of modern-day socio-economic realities.
He, however, pleaded with the NPC not to allow the 2023 exercise to be politicised if the country would achieve a veritable sustainable development database
“We must split politics from census, and consider it a purely statistical exercise that will provide veritable tool for planning and sustainable development,” he added.
On the security challenge facing the state, Bello noted that the state government is trying to overhaul the security architecture in three critical council areas of Mariga, Rafi and.
The Federal Commissioner, National Population Commission, Alhaji Muhammad Usman, in his address, disclosed that the commission was unable to carry out enumeration area demarcation EAD exercise in three local government areas of the state due to banditry and kidnapping.
Usman called on youths, religious leaders, women groups and civil society organisations to join hands with the commission to ensure a hitch-free census in 2023.