By Okhide Em’ya David
Nigeria’s National Population Commission (NPC), says it will conduct accurate, credible 2023 National population and housing census that is verifiable and generally acceptable by Nigerians and the international communities.
The Federal Commissioner of the Commission representing Edo State Dr. Tony Aiyejina, said to achieve this noble aim it has introduced an online e-recruitment Porter which will also guarantee Competence of ad-hoc staff, fairness and transparency in overall process.
Aiyejina spoke to Alltimepost.com in Benin City today amongst other international Media Organizations.
He said that the Chairman, National Population Commission, Hon. Nasir Isa Kwarra fnsa, inaugurated the Online E-recruitment Porter for the 2023 Population and Housing Census on Monday October 31, 2022 at the National Headquarters in Abuja.
The National Population Commissioner said that the quality of the persons that will conduct the census is strategic to its success, adding that the quality of the product will reflect and impact on the data to be collected and ultimately, the success of the 2023 census.
He said “A badly conducted recruitment process will inevitably lead to problems and increase the risk of an unsuccessful census.”
The commissioner who said that census is geared towards generation of data for national planning and development by governments, noted that to avoid unnecessary controversies, the commission decided to schedule the census immediately after the 2023 general elections.
According to him, “we have promised Nigerians and the international communities that the 2023 census will be qualitatively different from what had happened in the history of censuses in Nigeria, and that is why we are painstaking in all that we do.
The Commissioner said “In spite of biting economic challenges, the Federal Government has prioritized that future planning of the country must be on relevant data, not projections, assumptions generated outside this country.
He said the Nation needs to plan for our children born and unborn, hospital facilities, education (schools), even the markets assuring that President Mohammadu Buhari has magnanimously released funds for NPC to conduct the 2023 census in spite of lean resources and they cannot afford to fail.
He observed that “The last census in Nigeria was done in 2006 and since then, government after government have come and gone. They gave one excuses or the other why they cannot conduct census which every government need as a pool for planning.”
Aiyejina disclosed that the census would be technology-driven, and explained that with the technology there will be no room for external interference in the outcome of the exercise.
He explained that the exercise is devoid of any political coloration, noting that it is for the benefit of all Nigerians.
Aiyejina, who said the commission had successfully conducted a paperless, digital-based Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) in the state, noted that all census processes are now based on digital platforms, technology and devices.
On the recruitment process, he explained that applications are requested from field Facilitators, Training Centre Administrators, Monitoring and Evaluation Officers, Data Quality Manager, Data Quality Assistants, Supervisors and Enumerators.
Dr. Aiyejina assured Edo people that the bulk of personnel for the 2023 census will be drawn from communities where they are resident to remove the huge logistics of moving personnel across the state.
