Nigeria’s population is estimated to be at about 216 million, according to the United Nations Population Agency (UNFPA). According to statistical projections, if Nigeria continues in its current direction, there will be a 100 per cent increase in its population by 2050 to about 400 million people.
Notwithstanding the population increment which the nation is bound to experience in years to come, the country can still do well if proper national economic planning is done using authentic and accurate figures.
This can only be achieved if managers of the nation’s economy have accurate figures for the population density. This will assist them in planning ahead of time on ways to evenly distribute meagre resources available to the nation to the individual regions fairly to avoid any regions claiming to be sidelined or marginalised.
For accurate figures to be arrived at, the National Population Commission (NPC) under the watch of it’s chairman, Alhaji Nasir Isa, decided to deploy the Personal Digital Assistance (PDA) high tech tool to assist the commission come up with accurate figures in the re-scheduled census exercise.
It is against this backdrop that the commissioner representing Cross River State at the National Population Commission, Capt. Charles Ogwa retd, stated that with the deployment of hi-tech equipment, accurate figures are guaranteed in the yet to be conducted 2023 population and housing census.
In one of the foras held in the early part of May with journalists in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, the commissioner averred that the beauty of personal digital equipment would give rise for zero tolerance, preventing manipulation of any form to take place.
“We are deploying a hi-tech efficiency and high class technology that will give us accurate data devoid of tips, and any form of political influence and so on.
“The technology we have deployed will give us the result of up to one’s village. It has zero tolerance for influence of any type,” stressing that conduct of the census had reached 80 per cent.”
Reacting on the issue, a resident of Calabar metropolis, Mrs. Nkoyo Edem told me that although the technology, from what she gathered is good, but she is nursing some fear that it may not be as good as it seems and fears it may be like the BVAS machines that were used in the just concluded elections where some electorates claimed the technology was manipulated to favour the All Progressives Congress Party.
A resident of Okukunele Community in Ikom local government area of Cross River State, James Ekpang, reacted in favour of the hi-tech equipment, saying that with the technology, accurate housing and population census to be used for national economic planning can be arrived at.
“I’m totally in support of the deployment of the technology to enable us arrive at figures that can move our nation forward. With accurate figures we can afford to determine the numerical strength of each state or region,” Ekpang maintained.
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