NPC: Ingredients For An Incontrovertible Census

President Muhammadu Buhari became Nigeria's democratically inaugurated President on May 29th 2015. Amidst a mamoth crowds of admirers and supporters this brand new democratic President gave a very passionate and profoundly elucidating remarks which still lingers in the memories of millions of global audiences who followed the proceedings that characterized the solemn inaugural events both in the media and physically at the magnificent Eagles square at the central business district of Nigeria's political capital. ''...I belong to no one but belongs to everybody...."

The inevitable logical take away from this public speech was the resolve by the current President to strive as much as possible to implement his duties and functions not as a Northern Nigerian but as a Statesman of uncommon quality. The binding Constitutional oath of office sworn to by President Muhammadu Buhari demands that in all his public function s and duties he is to behave like a real statesman by not pandering to section al,religious or Ethnic agenda. Any breach of this lawful obligations is indeed far reaching in terms of consequences.

An aspect of his executive functions that will become a litmus test of this post-inaugural solemn pledge is the much anticipated national census of Nigerians which ordinarily should take place next Year if Nigeria is to keep to its ten year plan for regular head counts of all Nigerians. He (President Muhammadu Buhari ) is expected to have issued an executive order/ mandate to the National Population Commission of Nigeria headed by Chief Eze Duruiheoma (SAN) to commence preparations for an incontrovertible census by next year. Already, Nigerians have followed with keen interest the briefing sessions that President Muhammadu Buhari had with Permanent Secretaries and hierarchies of national agencies and it is hoped that Mr President would and must have been kept abreast of the goings on within the National Population Commission of Nigeria with specific reference to the expectations of Nigerians regarding the next census.

It is unclear if this Presidential green light has been given but suffice it to say that the National Population Commission of Nigeria has already started clearing the fields literally in readiness for a tidy head count of Nigerians. The commission seems to have realised that there's beauty in keeping to the mantra of the Boys Scouts Movement which is 'Be Prepared ' just as it has started with the capacity building training workshops for the enumerators and staff of this agency of the Nigerian Government that would soon be tasked with the all - important task of conducting a hitch free head count of Nigerians.

The National Population Commission (NPC) has therefore commenced training of its staff for the First Phase of the Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) aiming at producing incontrovertible figures in the proposed 2016 census.

In his opening remarks at the ceremony, which held in Akwanga, Nassarawa State, Chairman of the Commission, Chief Eze Duruiheoma said,

“the EAD project constitutes the foundation on which the entire proposed census architecture stands.”

“In the pre-census period, the total number of EAD and it’s distribution are required for census, planing particularly the development of personnel, logistics and material for the pre-test, trial census, the main census and the Post Enumeration Survey,” he said.

While explaining that the EAD exercise is not the enumeration of persons living in the country and that its outcome will not in any way determine the population of any community or state, Duruiheoma appealed to local government councils, traditional institutions and communities to support the commission in carrying out the 2016 Census AED by allowing unfettered access to facilities and places to be demarcated.

“However, the Commission will want to make a passionate appeal for stakeholders to refrain from undue intervention in the EAD programme. The staff should be allowed to carry out their duties professionally and give to the nation an EA frame that will form the basis for a professional census.”

He said EAD is just the division of the country into small geographical area to facilitate enumeration, adding “to us in the commission, getting the 2016 Census EAD right is not an option but an absolute necessity in the quest to deliver to the nation an accurate, reliable and acceptable census.”

Highlighting other efforts of the commission towards conducting world standard census, Chief Duruiheoma reportedly said thus; “a Master Trainer Refresher Course was concluded last week and this is being followed by the Training of Trainers which commences today and will last for two weeks.

“The States level Training will take place from 16th November to 1st December 2015.

“This will be followed by field from 2nd to 15th December 2015 in the seven local government areas in the six geopolitical zones and the FACT.”

He listed the local governments to include: Sokoto North, Gombe, Chanchaga in Niger State, Ideato South in Imo State, Ede North in Osun State, Oron in Akwa Ibom State and Kwali in Abuja.

He specifically disclosed that methodology for the Census is designed to achieve full Geographic Information System (GIS) compliance.

“The Commission will use full image map coverage of the whole country to ensure that no area is left un-demarcated,” he added.

While declaring the training open earlier, Nasarawa State Governor, Alahaji Tanko Almakura, noted that the proposed 2016 census will put to rest controversy over the last one, adding that the figure released by the commission for the population of the State was wrong, however, contested at the tribunal which ruled in favour of his State.

Represented by his deputy, Mr. Silas Agara, the Governor called for purposeful cooperation of NPC with the state towards 2016 census that is hopeful to produce true population figure of the State and indeed Nigeria at large.

As can be logically deduced from the above report of what transpired at the recent training workshop and more specifically the subtle complaint made by the State governor, it is clear to all that Nigerians have no options but to support the National Population Commission under its current hierarchy to deliver to Nigerians a scientifically verifiable head course that can stand the test of time and that could truly put the name of President Muhammadu Buhari in the sands of time as that national leader under whose supervision an incontrovertible and science based head counts of Nigerians was successfully implemented and this feat if a actualised will cement the place of President Muhammadu Buhari in the annals of Nigeria as one man who lived above pedestrian and parochial considerations in this aspect of determination of an accurate census figures for Nigeria with minimum acrimony.

By way of conclusion it will be much more meaningful and constructive to highlight the essential ingredients that culminate into a very incontrovertible census. The clearest way of knowing the badic qualities of a good census is to begin by asking what a Census is?

The United Nations defines a population census as the total process of collecting, compiling, and publishing demographic, economic, and social data pertaining to a specific time to all persons in a country or delimited part of a country. As part of a census count, most countries also include a census of housing. It is the process of collecting, compiling and publishing information on buildings, living quarters and building-related facilities such as sewage systems, bathrooms, and electricity, to name a few.

The United Nations lists four essential features of a census which are as follows:

Each individual is enumerated separately; the characteristics of each person within the household are recorded separately. Then secondly, the census covers a precisely defined territory and includes every person present or residing within its scope. The third aspect is that the housing census should include every type of building and living quarters. Each person and each type of building and living quarters fourthly is enumerated with respect to a well defined point of time. The census is taken at regular defined intervals, usually every 10 years.

In most countries, people are counted in their place of usual residence. In subsequent pieces we will provide further templates on those essential elements that must be in place to enable the Nigerian Population Commission to deliver qualitative census to Nigeria in the next few months, all things being equal.

*Emmanuel Onwubiko is Head of Human rights Writers association of Nigeria and blogs @ www.huriwa.blogspot.com, www.rightsassociationngr.com, www.huriwa.org.

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Articles by Emmanuel Onwubiko