Federal commissioner of the National Population Commission (NPC) in Bauchi State, Ibrahim Muhammad Darazo has asked journalists to ensure factual and unbiased coverage of the 2023 housing and population census to make the outcome of the exercise credible and acceptable to all.
The last housing and population census in Nigeria was conducted about 16 years ago. Census in Nigeria was designed to be conducted every 10 years. The commissioner said this in Bauchi yesterday during a capacity building workshop organised for journalists at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat.
He said the overall success of the exercise hinges on the flow of accurate and factual information to members of the public. He said journalists are the conduit pipe of destination information, thus making them critical stakeholders for the 2023 housing and population census.
Darazo said with the current prevalence of misinformation and fake news about Nigeria’s demographics for political and oftentimes sentimental reasons, it is a national calling for journalists to fact check and refute such unverified information in circulation. He called on journalists to be professional and unbiased in the coverage of the census.
The chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Bauchi State Council, Comrade Umar Sa’idu explained that the training was the first of its kind in the history of the council, hence the need for participants to apply the knowledge and skills gained. He said the training is critical for effective media coverage of the 2023 census.
