A rights group, Save Nigeria Movement (SNM) has urged social media influencers to use the platform to mobilise citizens to embrace the upcoming national census population excercise.
The CSO also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the chairman of National Population Commission (NPC), Alhaji Nasir Kwarra for the commitment to conduct of a digitalized census for the country.
The SNM gave the commendation at an interactive session with social media influencers in Abuja argued that the outcome of the census would facilitate the actualisation of the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The group led by its Convener, Rev. Solomon Semaka contended that a digital census with all its biometric features will clear all forms of suspicions and distrust as nobody will be counted twice and no imaginary entries will be made.
It further noted that the conduct of a digital census will provide Nigeria with accurate information about its true numbers, population structure, age distribution and the other indices that are crucial for development.
The group added that with the modalities in place, no tribe or State can manipulate their numbers at the expense of others.
“The exact population of Nigerians will be known including other very important statistics within a very short period of time. Participation in this exercise should therefore, be a priority since everybody will be counted as a civic duty,” it noted.
“This will enable the government to focus on priority needs like health care, education, social amenities, social security and employment generation to mention but a few. In fact, there’s no aspect of our national life that will not benefit from this all important exercise, including you, our esteemed social media influencers.”
The group expressed satisfaction with the measures put in place bythe management team of NPC under Alhaji Isa Kwarra aimed at ensuring the conduct of a hitch free census in the country.
It added: “Successive administrations in NPC have made concerted efforts to plan, strategize and coordinate this project and must be commended. It is worth noting that the commission has succeeded in creating a digitalized Enumeration Area Demarcation maps using the most advanced Geographic Information System softwares and satellite imagery.
“This in itself is a huge achievement but more than that, the Commission has successfully deployed Portable Digital Assistants (PDA) with state-of-the-art softwares and hardware to ensure seamless data capture and onward transmission to dedicated servers.
“The least we can do as social media influencers and civil society organisations is to cooperate with the process and play our part by our positive advocacy.
“Similarly, the Commission has already conducted Mock and Trial Census exercises across some selected Local Governments and States across the country. This is in addition to the training of millions of Nigerians to serve as ad-hoc staff in various capacities across the country.
“The judicious utilisation of scarce resources by the management of NPC under the Chairmanships of Alhaji Isa Kwarra is commendable and we are glad that President Tinubu has continued to support the Commission and its efforts. What Nigerians are waiting for now is a new date for census exercise and hopefully, it’ll be soon.
“We have taken time to monitor developments at the National Population Commission especially as it relates to this all important event and we are impressed, both with the management and Mr. President. So much is going on behind the scenes together with development partners and relevant agencies.”
