From Magnus Eze, Enugu
National Population Commission (NPC) has said that data generated from the forthcoming National Housing and Population Census would help the federal government in mitigating the socio-economic challenges that could arise from the removal of fuel subsidy.
It also explained that the postponement of the exercise by the immediate past administration was to grant the new administration the opportunity to have inputs into the process.
NPC’s Federal Commissioner representing Enugu State, Ejike Ezeh, who stated this at a press briefing in Enugu, disclosed that the postponement had given the commission opportunity to fine tune its processes and systems for the successful conduct of the census.
He said: “Recall that the former president, Muhammadu Buhari, in approving the postponement of the 2023 census from the earlier scheduled date of 3rd to 7th May, 2023, commended the commission for the appreciable progress recorded and urged that preparations for the census should continue.
“The commission welcomed the decision of the Federal Government to postpone the conduct of the census in order to give the incoming administration the opportunity to have inputs into the census process.
“The postponement has also given the commission the opportunity to further perfect its processes and systems for the conduct of the first ever digital census in Nigeria.”
Ezeh also said that census information is also very useful in tracking progress towards national and internationally agreed development goals, adding that planners need population information for all kinds of development work, including, “assessing demographic trends, analyzing socio-economic trends, analyzing socio-economic conditions, designing evidence-based poverty-reduction strategies, and monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of policies.”
He, thereby, assured that the Commission would continue to carry out advocacy to ensure that the census messages remain at the centre of national discourse.
