The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, made this known in a press statement.

He said the committee would submit an interim report within three weeks.

The president, according to Onanuga, said the census was crucial for national development, accurate planning, and effective decision-making in healthcare, education, security, and economic planning.

Nigeria’s last census was in 2006, nearly two decades ago.

It recorded a population of 140,431,790, with 71,345,488 males and 69,086,302 females.

President Tinubu stressed the pivotal role of a technology-driven process in ensuring credible and verifiable results and the need for collaboration among all relevant agencies and stakeholders.

Underscoring the critical financing factor in the exercise, the president enjoined the members to look at domestic and even international resources.

“Work with all relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning. This ministry has to take charge of this because you cannot budget if you do not know how many we are.

“We expect you will touch on the technology area because the census must be technology-driven. Things have changed since the last time that we conducted this exercise. The enumeration has to be technology-driven with biometrics and digitalisation,” he said.

READ ALSO: Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 24.23 % in March -NBS

Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, represented the president at the event held at the State House in Abuja.

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, who chairs the Presidential Committee on Population and Housing Census, assured the president that the committee would deliver its report within the three-week deadline.

The minister recalled President Tinubu’s advice to ministers during their retreat in 2003, urging them to think creatively and work with the resources available, even under harsh economic conditions.

Bagudu noted that despite global economic challenges, Nigeria was making steady progress under President Tinubu’s leadership, citing improved foreign exchange stability and a positive growth trajectory.

He said the committee would recommend practical solutions, including strategies for mobilising domestic and international resources to fund the census.

The Minister of Information, Muhammed Idris, also a committee member, emphasised that accurate data was critical for planning across all sectors and that a credible census was the foundation for such data.

The National Population Commission, NPC, Chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra, who will also serve as the committee Secretary, said the commission had already begun preparations for the national population and housing census in collaboration with the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and other relevant stakeholders.

According to him, the focus has been on identifying key requirements and laying the groundwork necessary for the President to make an informed decision on the actual conduct of the census.

Kwarra assured Nigerians that the National Population Commission remained committed to ensuring a credible, technology-driven enumeration that will support effective national planning and development.

The eight-member committee also includes the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy; the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS; the Director General of the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC; the Principal Secretary to the President, and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Administration and Operations (Office of the Chief of Staff).

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The nation last held a census in November 2006.

President Bola Tinubu, at a meeting at the State House with officials of the National Population Commission, NPC, said he would set up a committee to align the census budget to the government’s present financial realities.

He said the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, must be part of the review.

“We must ascertain who we are, how many we are, and how to manage our data. Without an accurate census, we can’t successfully plan for employment, agriculture, and food sovereignty. So many problems come up without accurate data,” President Tinubu said.

He reiterated his commitment to ensuring accurate and reliable figures from the national census to strengthen development planning and improve Nigerians’ living conditions through more efficient social security.

The National Population Commission, NPC, chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra, and some other members briefed the president.

President Tinubu noted that government incentives, such as the sale and distribution of fertilisers, could be easily improved with more reliable data and demographics.

The president told the delegation that biometric capturing should be central to the process, with multiple identification features, including facial and voice recognition.

READ ALSO: Ondo: Tinubu congratulates Gov Aiyedatiwa on fresh term in office

“We should work on our financial muscle well in place to lift our burden before we go and meet development partners for the census. We should work out the figures before discussing the role of development partners.

“This stop-and-go activity on the census cannot work with me. So we better have a definite path. I will set up a committee for you to look at the issues critically and do a source and application of resources. Where can we get help, and what can we lift before we embark on proclamation?”

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, said the census data would be central to future planning and resource distribution.

“At a retreat for the ministers in 2023, Mr President, you reiterated your commitment to the census, so there is no doubt about your desire and commitment to have the census. In fact, at the last Federal Executive Council meeting, you asked me what the problem was, and I told you it was simply an issue of lack of ability to fund the census.

“Even today, before this meeting, I called the NPC chairman and restated your commitment to the census. However, the commission and all of us in the team need to agree on the minimum amount we can source to support Mr President in making the final decision.

“The NPC indicated that 40 per cent of the funding for the 2006 census came from development partners,” Bagudu stated.

Bagudu noted that the enumeration done by NPC so far had been helpful.

“Mr President, we have been having ecosystem meetings to link the identity agencies, even the geo-spatial chaired by the ministry, because of our mandate as the supervising ministry of the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS. So the NPC, NBS, NIMC, Ministry Of Digital Economy, passport, social register, voters register, and even telecoms data have been meeting with the National Space Research and Development Agency, NASRDA, to see how much is available to the government regarding data and how much optimisation can take place.”

In his presentation, NPC chairman, Kwarra, said the last census took place in 2006, and 19 years later, the figures were no longer relevant in planning, particularly for key sectors that directly impact the population.

He said 760,000 tablets had been acquired and stored with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), assuring the commission would engage with development partners to seek support whenever President Tinubu proclaimed the new census.

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Alhaji Nasir Kwarra, chairman of the NPC, made this announcement in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja by Mrs Talibat Oloruntoba, Director of the Public Affairs Department of the NPC.

The First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, presented a birth certificate to the first baby of the year at Asokoro General Hospital, Abuja.

Kwarra, represented by the Federal Commissioner from Katsina, Mr Bala Banya, emphasised the commission’s commitment to ensure every child born in Nigeria was registered and received a birth certificate.

He explained that with the digitisation of the registration system and partnerships with the Primary Health Care Agency, children, no matter where they are born, would be registered.

READ ALSO: And the man died…, By Bola Bolawole

Kwarra urged all parents and guardians to take advantage of the free registration service provided by the commission.

Dr. Telson Ojogun, Director-General of the NPC, highlighted the commission’s plans to establish more than 4,000 additional registration centres nationwide, making it easier for Nigerians to register their children.

He also stressed that the commission was utilising modern technology to ensure that each registered child had a unique, irreplaceable identity.

Ojogun also expressed gratitude to the First Lady, who was represented by the wife of the Vice President, Hajiya Nana Shettima, for presenting the certificate to the first baby of the year.

Ojogun encouraged Nigerians to register deaths with the commission, helping to maintain an accurate and reliable population register.

Source: NAN

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He, however, emphasized the need for the commission to be prudent in their assignment and work towards producing census data that would be credible and reliable.

Speaking at the State House in Abuja after receiving a briefing from NPC chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra, the president expressed concern over the delay in conducting another enumeration in the country since the last exercise done in 2006.

He urged the NPC to view the delay as an opportunity to cash in on the advantages of the current electronic and digital age.

”It is disappointing that up until now we have not been able to conduct another enumeration of our people. I hope that this delay will be converted to a great opportunity in this electronic and digital age.

”The challenge is yours and I hope that during the demarcation you did, you would have noticed the migration of people to urban centres because of the extreme poverty and unemployment.

”Digitalizing the process will make your job easier and I don’t see why we don’t, by now, have a reliable database in Nigeria to identify ourselves and ascertain our numbers for planning purposes and  in time of disaster.

”I have listened to you and we will support you. Accuracy and integrity of your data is very important to Nigerians and for our national economic development programmes.

”We will support you but you have to be prudent and be determined to make a name for yourself. Goodluck, ” the president said.

In his remarks, the NPC chairman noted that the commission was on the verge of conducting the final training for the Census before they were caught up with the transition programme for a new government and funding challenges, necessitating the postponement of the exercise by the immediate-past president.

He briefed the president on the implementation status of the 2023 Population and Housing Census, requesting the issuance of a proclamation for a new Census date later this year or early next year.

Kwarra also highlighted the funding challenges faced by the commission, saying they were waiting on the president to support NPC and give the go-ahead for the conduct of the census.

He said the commission had demarcated the entire country, stating that only one or two places were left and that that would be done soon.

Kwarra said the commission had also trained 60,000 instructors that would further train enumerators and supervisors.

In a paper titled “Implementation Status of the 2023 Population and Housing Census,” the NPC requested the release of the allocated N31 billion capital allocation, in the 2023 budget, for preparatory activities.

The commission put the total cost of the Census, after a methodology review, at N546.72 billion.

Kwarra also requested the President’s approval for an additional N225.2 billion to cover training and fieldwork allowances, retraining of trainers, and the conduct of a second-class trial Census.

President Tinubu was also asked to approve and convene a stakeholders meeting with the organized private sector and foreign partners to galvanise funds for the Census.

Kwarra informed the president that Nigeria had developed a database that could be useful in national planning, infrastructure development, and revenue generation for the government.

”NPC having completed Mapping in March 2022, tested the market with the geospatial data by making it available to researchers at a ‘test price’ where it generated over N50 million through REMITA.

”To this end, with a full integrated spatial and statistical data, government geospatial policy and coordination, NPC can generate up to 14 billion dollars and further save a lot of resources for the nation through automation of economic planning by 2028,” he said.

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This is part of the N800 billion it expected from the federal government as total budget, including cost of more than five years preparation.

Its executive chairman, Alhaji Nasir Kwarra, made the declaration at a breakfast meeting with media executives in Abuja on Thursday.

Kwarra said the cost of conducting digital census was high considering the procurement of equipment and data required for the exercise.

He said the commission recruited about one million personnel in a bid to conduct a credible and acceptable digital census.

He reiterated its commitment to a credible and acceptable census and urged the media to sustain the tempo of publicity.

“It is important to sustain the tempo of the preparation for the census. The focus of the commission is to lay a foundation for future censuses,’’ he said.

Dr Inuwa Jalingo, Census Manager, stated that the commission worked round-the-clock to conduct a digital census.

Jalingo said the NPC had already set up a robust quality dashboard and data for a credible census.

In his remarks, Dr Isiaka Yahaya, Director, Public Affairs Department at the NPC, also called on the media to continue to emphasise to the public the imperatives of conducting censuses.

Yahaya noted that advocacy and publicity were critical to making the census successful.

Source: NAN

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This was disclosed by the commission’s chairman, Mr Nasir Kwarra, during a press conference in Calabar on Tuesday.

Represented by Dr. Eyitayo Oyetunji, Chairman, Public Affairs Committee of the commission, Kwarra noted that presently, Nigeria was the sixth most populous nation in the world.

The chairman said that by 2050, Nigeria would be the third most populous country in the globe going by her growth rate.

According to him, that was very significant, therefore, the next census “is not just important to us in Nigeria for planning but has international relevance.”

“The world wants to know whether Nigeria is set to become the third most populous country in the world.

“You hear that Nigeria has the biggest market in Africa and so, whatever happens to its population is of interest to any serious minded businessman and international organisations,” he said.

Kwarra said that was why it used the 2022 Calabar Carnival as a platform to sensitize Nigerians on the importance of the census.

READ ALSO: Nigeria’s population is its greatest asset –NPC

He said the commission had planned the 2023 census activities in such a way that it would not get entangled in the political process, had no political undertones but purely for data collection for national planning.

While calling on the media to publicize the activities of the commission towards having a credible census, he said the 2023 enumeration exercise would be the first in Africa where every participant would be geographically defined.

Similarly, Navy Captain Charles Ogwa (rtd), NPC Federal Commissioner for Cross River said the carnival was the biggest and most flamboyant street party in Sub-Saharan Africa with about 2,000,000 live viewers.

Ogwa said because of this huge viewership, the NPC in its strides to sensitize Nigerians about the census had decided to partake in the 2022 Calabar Carnival.

He said the main objective of the commission was to strategically reach a large number of people within and outside Nigeria.

“At the level we are now, we have successfully demarcated Nigeria with the use of high technological methodologies.

“We have also conducted pretests and trial census in the six geopolitical zones and it was successful.

“We are also ensuring that our staff are properly recruited and trained to have a 100 per cent quality man power,” he added.

The Calabar Carnival street party would be held on Wednesday, December 28 along the 12 kilometers carnival route with different bands on parade.

Source: NAN

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Alhaji Isa Kwarra, chairman of the National Population Commission, NPC, described the meeting as strategic to both the commission and the country, as it would provide a roadmap for the development and implementation of a work plan.

Represented by Dr. Sulaiman Ismaila, Federal Commissioner, Kano, Kwarra expressed optimism that the meeting would deepen the digitisation of the CRVS process and coverage in Nigeria.

The NPC chairman, who explained that the objective of the digitisation and automation of the CRVS system in the country was to enable data end users access real time data, added that that was in line with international best practice.

“There is no doubt that we are in a digital age. To this end, a fully functional digitised and automated CRVS system will provide real time data and is a gold standard for generating birth and mortality data in a population,” he said.

Kwarra said that the commission had developed a five-year national strategic action plan on CRVS from 2018 to 2022, with the action plan spelling out the feasible and measurable interventions that would reposition the CVRS system in the country by 2022.

Dr. Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health, said that the first birthday gift to every child should be a birth registration.

Represented by Mrs Deborah Jokodola, Assistant Director in the ministry, the minister added that birth registration was key to planning a child’s future.

Ehanire assured the NPC of the ministry’s support in transiting the country to digital legal identification system.

Mr Lawal Idris, Chairman, House Committee on Population, said that a transition from paper registration to digital was paramount in meeting up with current global standards.

Idris reiterated the commitment of the National Assembly to the digitisation of population data, saying that the legislature would continue to support the NPC, as the transition from paper CRVS to digital one would require a lot of effort, including uninterrupted power to make it a success.

The CRVS is a continuous, permanent, compulsory and universal recording through the registration of the occurrence and characteristics of vital events, pertaining to the population, as provided for by a country’s laws.

Source: NAN

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