… Census important as elections and Tax reforms , CSOs insist
The Global Census Watch International (GCWI) in collaboration with Joint Civil Society Task Force on Population and Migration in Africa (CSTPMA) has urged stakeholders to prioritise conversations that will fast track the conduct of a national census in Nigeria , noting that the country is indeed overdue for a national census exercise based on our own laws and international conventions.
It should be recalled that, in 2023, the Federal Government had made appreciable efforts in preparation for the conduct of the National Population and Housing Census. The exercise, however, didn’t hold as planned at the time for reasons believed to be associated with the coincidence of the 2023 general election and it’s timing. ” Our hopes that the next administration will conduct the exercise has remained high hence this call”
Almost two years into the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the census exercise has not been conducted and there has been little or no conversations around the subject matter despite the fact that preparations for exercise was 90% completed by the National Population Commission for the exercise.
In a press release signed by
Richard Oduma and Ibrahim Jalo for GCWI and CSTPMA respectively, a copy of which was sighted by our correspondent, the groups maintained that the lack of interest by stakeholders to have conversations around the postponed 2023 National Population and Housing Census is no longer justified as Nigeria is in dire need of accurate and reliable data for realtime development planning.
“It is no longer appropriate that Nigeria as the supposed giant of Africa has not conducted a census for the past 20 years”. The last census exercise took place in 2006 , it should concern every stakeholder and patriot that Nigeria does not have accurate data even on basic indicators like unemployment, poverty and access to healthcare”
The coalition acknowledged the passion of president Tinubu administration in reforming the country and believes that a national Census exercise was the easiest way to get the needed statistics for the policies of the president to be implemented based on facts and reality ”
“The current administration must therefore, pay apt attention to the major driver of sustainable development among which is the national census in line with the renewed hope Agenda of Mr. President
“Stakeholders however, seem to prioritize conversations on short term policies such as fuel subsidy removal and most recently, tax reforms. We expect the stakeholders to expend the same energy in bringing the national census to fruition.
“With the high rate of poverty, unemployment, inflation and lack of access to healthcare, potable water and a host of other essentials, the need for a census cannot be overemphasized. Delaying this exercise further will hurt not just the economy but will also hinder the inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from the diaspora. The earlier we conduct a national census, the better for Nigerians and our international partners as well as investors”, the release stated.
The groups commended the Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC) Alhaji Isa Kwara and his team for the technological innovations embedded in the preparation for the exercise, including “the digital delineation of enumeration areas, design and development of critical ICT infrastructure, training of over one million field ad-hoc staff as well as the procurement of hardware needed for the exercise”, adding that, “these laudable achievements should be utilized to the benefit of the country.
The release ended by calling on all stakeholders including members of the National Assembly, The Nigerian Governors Forum, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, the Nigerian Labour Congress, Christian Association of Nigeria, Afenifere, Ohaneaze Ndi’Igbo, Northern Elders Forum and a host of others “to see Nigeria’s development beyond elections, resource control and short term goals as its currently the practice and focus on more critical issues like the census.
“We urge you in your various capacities and in the spirit of patriotism, to give the same priority to the census exercise which has enormous benefits to our economy and national life the same way election and revenue and resource allocation matters are prioritised. The task of making Nigeria a better place is a collective responsibility and we must act accordingly”.
