From Fred Itua, Abuja
National chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Nasir Isa Kwarra, on Thursday, said the Commission has so far spent N200 billion on planned national population census, despite its suspension by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Kwarra said the Federal Government initially released N224 billion, out of the N800 billion sought for the conduct of the census exercise.
Addressing media executives, Kwarra tried to justify the expenditure of N200 billion, insisting that the postponement has given the Commission more time to prepare for the exercise.
“The Commission welcomes 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,” Kwarra said.
He explained further: “As you are aware, the Commission has carried out all the preparatory activities towards the census such as the Enumeration Area Demarcation, conduct of pre tests and trial census, recruitment and training of census field staff, procurement and configuration of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), establishment of ICT infrastructures across the country and logistics support and advocacy and publicity activities.
“Conscious of the enormous human and material resources that have been expended in the implementation of these preparatory activities, the most important task before the Commission is to sustain and reinforce the relevance of these activities to the successful conduct of the 2023 Census. This will ensure that the nation does not have to start afresh the conduct of the census thereby saving costs.
“The processes and systems put in place for the census are therefore being currently reviewed to determine what needs to be done to ensure that the preparations do not become obsolete for the census. The focus of the Commission is to ensure that all the resources expended so far are safeguarded and that the nation does not need to start all over when the census is to be conducted.
“For us at the Commission, this is not a difficult task. In coming up with the plan for the 2023 Census, the Commission was not only looking at the immediate needs of delivering the next census but concerned more with laying a solid foundation for future censuses. This mindset informed the scope and quality of arrangements put in place.
“For example, the Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD), which involved the division of the country into small land areas was meticulously undertaken in such a way that only an update will be required for future censuses. Using satellite imageries, the Enumeration Areas were all geo referenced with the coordinates of all the buildings established. The products of the EAD are currently being used by other government agencies.
“The recruitment of the adhoc workers had been completed before the postponement through a rigorous online process in which about one million workers have been screened and found worthy of assignment. The data base of all the recruited personnel including their contact details is available for the next census. The reserve personnel will be available to handle cases of attrition.
“The Commission had commenced training of certain categories of personnel before the announcement of the postponement. These trainings include the facilitators at national, zonal and state levels, Data Quality Managers, Training Centre Managers, Monitoring and Evaluation Officers. The next categories of personnel to be trained are the Supervisors and Enumerators. The Commission will continue to maintain contacts with the personnel through online trainings and mentorship.
“The Commission had acquired Personal Digital Assistants for the 2023 Census. About 500,000 of these devices have been delivered to the 36 state offices and the FCT and configured for the exercise. Adequate arrangement is being made for the storage and security of these equipment to prevent damages and theft.
“In readiness for the census, the Commission had carried out massive advocacy and publicity for the 2023 Census at national and state levels. Media campaign was intensified while collaboration with stakeholders was strengthened through the inauguration of Census Publicity Committees at national, state and LGA levels. Publicity materials in English and local languages have been disseminated and social media has been deployed on a massive scale. The Commission will continue to carry out advocacy to ensure that the census messages remain at the centre of national discourse.”