2023 CENSUS WILL NOT BE TRIBAL OR POLITICAL IN NATURE - NPC

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By Adeniyi Onaara

National Population Commission clarified on Thursday that the planned census in 2023 is not ethnic or political in nature.

Seyi Aderinokun, Federal Commissioner of Ogun State, emphasized that the Commission is not a political organization, and that its responsibility is to conduct censuses to generate data for economic planning.

The clarification was made by the Commissioner, who was represented by the NPC’s state director, Olushola Adeleye, at a one-day capacity building workshop for journalists in Ogun State on effective reporting of the 2023 population and housing census.

She insisted that the Commission would physically count the Nigerian population, assuring that no proxy counting would be used.

According to her, the census will be conducted digitally, as the Commission had deployed advanced technological tools to code buildings and land mass, detailing information such as location, landscapes, etc.

While describing Ogun State as a population convergence point, the NPC Federal Commissioner said the workshop was to train journalists on how to report census efficiently and effectively.

She added: “We are not a political organisation. We have responsibility to conduct census; it is a research that is meant to generate data for economic planning. We are not ethnic or political related or motivated.

“The census results will be verifiable and digital; we are implementing technological innovation,” Adeleye assured.

Folami Muka, the Deputy Director of the Census Department, stated in his presentation that several censuses conducted in the country had been marred by various complaints because people believed they were politically motivated.

“Getting the people involved to participate and own it is paramount to its overall success,” Muka said, emphasizing the importance of the Commission having a people-oriented exercise. However, due to many people’s misconceptions about what a population census is or is not, the conduct of population censuses in Nigeria has been fraught with many challenges over the years. In terms of population size, the result of a census, has always thrown up heated exchanges between various groups within the polity, thereby adversely affecting the growth and development process of the country because the use of such data for planning for national development is always underplayed,” the deputy director remarked.

Ogun State General Manager of Nigeria Television Authority, Mrs. Funmi Wakama, meanwhile, urged the media to be veritable partners, so that the outcome will be acceptable.

Wakama insisted that having a reliable data of the country’s population would help in planning and development purposes.