When in April 2023 the previous administration of the then President Muhammadu Buhari postponed the conduct of the national census indefinitely to allow the succeeding government, as led by President Bola Tinubu to do the needful hopes were high that the National Population Commission (NPC), headed by the Chairman Nasir Kwarra, would do the needful by November 2024.
But Nigerians are still waiting for the new date. Though the NPC has the constitutional mandate to conduct censuses, the president has the sole authority to set the date for its conduct.
Of great significance is the need to get the NPC well prepared to conduct credible, fraud-free and dependable data based on the true figures of Nigerian citizens with regards to the true age, gender, ethnic nationality, location and profession.
With such evidence-based figures at the disposal of the policy makers it would be easier to plan for infrastructure, security, educational development, healthcare delivery, food and your nutrition security, housing and of course, access to safe water for drinking.
At the end of the day, if the right things are done and as at when due the average Nigerian citizen would have a higher Human Development Index (HDI). Unfortunately, we currently cannot boast of that.
It has therefore become a compelling need to change the narrative, beginning with identifying and overcoming the obstacles, mistakes and challenges of the past national censuses.
For instance, while the 1931 census was riddled by tax riots and a locust invasion; that which was scheduled for 1941 was cancelled due to the Second World War.
The one conducted in 1963 was out rightly rejected by the then Eastern Region because of the unverifiable figures and sued for it to be considered for “null and void”.
In a similar vein, the 1973 census was cancelled due to allegations of inflated figures. And fast forward to that of 2006 and what we got was yet another controversial census that the panIgbo socio-cultural group, the Ndigbo, rubbished as not only presenting “outrageously doctored figures” but as one that artificially reduced the Ndigbo as a minority ethnic group.
Yet, there are other hurdles for the NPC to scale over in its vow to make the desired difference, this time around.
Amongst the challenges are the lack of data below the local government level, poorly implemented post-enumeration surveys, inadequate staffing, lack of public interest and lack of commitment on the part of the public with several boycotts in addition to lack of adequate financial support from the government as well as poor administration.
But that is not all there is to the frictional forces decelerating the steps of the NPC.
With the deployment of modern technology the figures should be credible but must not be politicised or manipulated to serve base personal sentiments
It has been discovered over the decades that census exercises in Nigeria have been politicised all because figures presented are used to allocate revenue and define constituencies.
Notable also is the factor of porous borders that have opened the doors to foreigners to troop into Nigeria not only for elections but for censuses. of concern is Another issue the topography of the country such that some hilly, forest and coastal areas are inaccessible to the NPC staff.
But the piece of good news is the readiness of the Kwarra-led NPC to deploy modern technological devices to get us the true figures as required.
According to the NPC it has already spent a whopping N200 billion in preparation for the census with the purchase of 760,000 digital devices referred to as PDAs.
The data for planning for the week-long upcoming population and housing census are being worked out. Good enough, it has also carried out Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) in all the 774 local government councils and also captured the geo-coordinates of all buildings in the country.
That must be responsible for the vote of confidence passed on the NPC by both the Green and Red Chambers of the legislature.
It has also led to the huge commendations given to it by the Chief of Defence Space Administration, Air Vice Marshal Ahmed Abdullahi Shinkafi for the remarkable achievements it has so far made, especially in data generation for the national geospatial data repository.
This will definitely help the security agencies in their plans and address the recurring security challenges. In fact, such is the potential of the deployment of the Hi-Tech gadgets that the Defence Space Administration is ready to collaborate with the NPC to improve on data integrity for planning and national development.
In specific terms, the areas of collaboration include information sharing, through technology integration and capacity building.
And to walk the talk a joint committee is being worked out between the two agencies to bolster the fight against insecurity.
To make a success of the 2025 Census there should be the creation of a sustained public awareness through the mass media to actively engage Nigerians to understand the importance of the census as a dependable database for planning; for revenue allocation and constituency definition.
They should be convinced to key into the constitutional vision and mission for our overall good. With the deployment of modern technology the figures should be credible but must not be politicised or manipulated to serve base personal sentiments.
Anyone found culpable in such an unpatriotic act should be made to face the wrath of the law.
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