Population Association of Nigeria (PAN) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to consider making a proclamation for the conduct of a National Population and Housing Census in 2018 and provide for the necessary support for the smooth conduct of the exercise.
In a press release signed by the president of the association, Professor Peter Olasupo Ogunjuyigbe, the group pointed out that in line with the United Nations Recommendation, the next census ought to have been conducted in 2016, being 10 years after the 2006 Census.
PAN stressed that further delay in the conduct of the next census beyond 2018 may undermine the planning process of the nation’s march towards sustainable development.
The Association reiterated that no country can make any tangible progress towards sustainable development without timely, reliable and accurate census figure and that for any developmental planning, census figure is paramount.
They also stressed that population is dynamic and with the continuous interplay of migration, mortality and fertility, the population of an area will witness either an increase or decrease, so therefore, it becomes imperative for all nations to conduct census regularly.
PAN said that in spite of the recent proclamation of National Assembly towards the conduct of another census in 2018, there is nothing concrete on ground to show that government is on the same page with National Population Commission.
”The Proclamation by Senate to have another census in 2018 is still waiting for the assent of the President without which international agencies are not likely to declare their own support for the exercise”.
The Association acknowledged the lack of resources at the disposal of the Federal Government occasioned by recession and the huge resources required for the next census, and advised the government that this short term cost consideration should not prevent the nation from considering reaping the long-term benefits of the census.
PAN notes that the Change Mantra of the present government in terms of prudent management of resources and the call by the House of Representative on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to create new constituencies cannot be realistic without a fresh census figure to reflect the necessity or otherwise of such exercise.
They expressed confidence that the bio-metric based census being proposed by the Commission, if professionally and honestly handled, will produce authentic and verifiable demographic data and nip in the bud any tendency towards double or multiple enumerations of persons as alleged in virtually all past national censuses.
The Association stated that the Commission has commenced preparatory activities for the next census with the Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) of one LGA in each of the States and Abuja using satellite imagery stressing that the meticulous manner in which the exercise is being carried out will deliver an accurate, reliable and acceptable census frame if it is properly handled and can be completed within the year 2017.
“So if the next census exercise is to be in the year 2018, one should be seeing the sign now; the horizon is not clear enough for anybody to see what government is doing towards having a credible census in 2018 as recommended by National Assembly. It normally will take nothing less than two years to plan for a census that will worth its salt for a country as huge as Nigeria. Census is not a simple exercise.”
PAN, however, pointed that without accurate census, governments at various levels will continue to base their plans on estimated figures, which is always argued as one of the main reasons why Nigeria as a nation has not been able to make tangible progress in all facets of its developmental planning.
They also reminded the Federal Government that conducting the next census at the earliest possible time is also an obligation the country owes the global community, and that due to the relative size of Nigeria’s population, which is the largest on the African continent and the seventh largest in the world, there will always be a considerable international concern on Nigeria’s census. Hence the willingness to support its conduct as experienced in previous censuses.
The Association, therefore, appealed to the President to consider the call for a national population census to be conducted in the first quarter of 2018 or as early as seen to be most convenient to the government..