Zulum Sets Agenda For Publicity C’ttee On National Census

Borno State governor Babagana Umara Zulum has inaugurated an 18- man publicity committee for effective mobilisation of citizens for the successful conduct of the census coming up this year.

While inaugurating the committee at the Government House, Maiduguri, Governor Zulum said the objective of the committee is to sensitise the populace on the coming 2023 census at the grassroots “and to achieve general acceptance, as well as to mobilise additional resources to supplement the National Population Commission’s (NPC’s) budgetary provision in the implementation of advocacy and publicity for the 2023 census.”

Zulum represented by his deputy, Alhaji Umar Kadafur, who is also the chairman of the committee, said the committee is to also promote local ownership and acceptance of the 2023 population and housing census among stakeholders especially, at the grassroots which would serve as platform for receiving feedbacks and methodologies.

He said the conduct of the 2023 population and housing census is a top priority for the present administration, as it is borne out of the desire to bequeath an enduring legacy of evidence-based planning for sustainable development.

The governor stressed that the exercise would enable the state government to have access to information on the number of public and private infrastructures destroyed by Boko Haram insurgency, with a view to continue with the ongoing reconstruction and rehabilitation processes embarked upon by the present administration.

He said the terms of reference (TOR) of the committee is “to carryout public enlightenment, education and solicit support for the 2023 census, its processes and procedures as well as undertake advocacy visits and strategic engagement with key stakeholders at the national, state and local government levels to solicit support for the 2023 census.

“Other terms of reference includes; to mobilise resources, material or otherwise for the conduct of the advocacy and publicity for the 2023 population and housing census, promote institutional collaboration and partnership between the commission, government agencies, community/ faith-based organisations and civil society organisations (CSOs) on the 2023 census advocacy and publicity; and to advice the committee on effective advocacy and publicity strategies in the 2023 census and  other related matters,” he stated.

He said housing and population census when properly conducted will enable the government to know the size of the population, the number of people who live in the country and the structure of the society, which according to him, will in turn guide government in forecasting possible economic needs like electricity, schools, hospitals, housing and food security among other interventions.

The committee has the state deputy governor, Alhaji Umar Kadafur as chairman, the federal commissioner, NPC as co-chairman, while Comrade Dauda Iliya, chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Borno Council is also a member of the committee among 15 others.

Responding on behalf of the committee, the state director NPC, Alhaji Yerima Kachallah commended Zulum for finding them worthy for the appointment. He pledged that the committee will justify the confidence reposed on the members.