Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Tony Elumelu, has called on the federal government to conduct a credible housing and population census this time for proper planning purposes.
“It is important that the census outcome is credible, acceptable and does not lead to any further controversies,” he said yesterday at the Nigerian government high-level donor engagement on the country’s 2023 housing and population census in Abuja.
He also announced the commitment of the private sector and African development organisation’s readiness to support the enumeration process.
Elumelu urged the National Population Commission to leverage technology as much as possible to reduce human errors and demonstrate transparency and credibility. “Nigeria must show that it is progressive, fair, equitable and development focused.”
Mr Elumelu said the government’s decision to collaborate with the private sector, the African development organisation, the public sector, the international development community in the census is a positive step towards achieving a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of Nigeria’s demographics.
“We the Nigerian philanthropic organisations and private sector are ready to support and complement the efforts of the Nigerian government in this most important exercise,” he stated at the event which took place at TransCorp Hilton in Abuja.
Census figures and population distribution have become politicized in Nigeria. Population figures have ramifications for revenue allocation, office allotment, legislative power and even elections.
The stakes in the census exercise that is slated for this March are high for various interest groups – we need to act for the nation as a whole and the next generations.
Nigeria needs a credible and extensive population enumeration exercise.
Like other speakers at the event, Transnational Corporation Plc & founder, The Tony Elumelu Foundation said the challenge facing the National Population Commission is to conduct a census that meets the public’s acceptability criteria
The NPC faces tough targets of a credible, transparent, verifiable and accessible exercise in line with universal coverage standard. “We need to reach all our people,” Elumelu said.
He said a credible exercise and outcome should be a source of pride and a demonstration of Nigeria’s capacity and intent.
“The government faces a herculean task of conducting a credible census in the very tight time frame allocated for the exercise.
“It behoves on the National Population Commission to assuage such sentiments with an excellent census exercise,” he said.
