The Conference of Ethnic Tribes and Minorities (COETAM) has charged the relevant committees of the National Assembly (NASS) to escalate the growing calls for the conduct of a credible national census.
It said the exercise is long overdue for the country.
In a statement signed by Comrade Patrick Ameh and released to journalists in Abuja, the CSO commended the Committees on National Population and Identity in the 10th National Assembly for their cooperation and excellent legislative roles in guiding the National Population Commission (NPC) in the performance of their functions.
Ameh asserted that the NPC’s role is critical to Nigeria’s planning and development, which is the ultimate agenda of the current administration under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He declared that with credible data, Nigeria’s development would be successful. He insists that considering the last census was conducted in 2006, the government urgently needs to conduct another national exercise to accommodate the sudden population explosion and correct the defects of the previous widely contested headcount.
The group said a census exercise was long overdue in Nigerian laws pioneered by NASS and the United Nations conventions, hence the appeal for action.
He said, ‘There can be no meaningful development and prosperity if the government continues to plan with unreliable data, especially in the face of global economic uncertainties.”
The group highlighted the sterling reforms spearheaded in the management of future census exercises under the current leadership of the commission regarding the preparation for the proposed national census exercise: “ Worthy of note is the transition of the commission’s operational capacities; seamlessly replacing analogue operations with digital systems that would minimise and eliminate human errors to ensure credibility of the exercise.
“The training and retraining of over one million resource persons across the country, the acquisition of digital personal assistants, the design, development and procurement of relevant IT infrastructure as well as the successful demarcation and marking of the entire country by the commission, more than ever points to the preparedness of the commission to deliver a credible and acceptable census exercise when Mr President issues the proclamation. This is highly commendable.
“At the level of civil society organisations, we are confident that the current commission, under the leadership of Alhaji Nasir Isa Kwara, is positioned to deliver on its mandate. So, we would like to appeal to our elected representatives to renew and escalate the conversation about this essential exercise as part of their roles in seeking the good of their people.
If we prioritise censuses as we do elections, we can be sure that we will experience even more development as a nation. This is the only way to appropriate resources and services based on statistics for the overall public good,” Amen said.
