The urgent need to conduct census in Nigeria

 The urgent need to conduct census in Nigeria

The development and wellbeing of every country depends on its economy, in achieving these, attention needs to be placed upfront on ensuring respect for policy coherence and the need to conduct census in Nigeria will also facilitate that, this is because The importance of census cannot be overestimated. A population census is at the centre of every planning activity and no meaningful development planning activity can be conducted without taking into account population census data. The importance of the census lies in its being an integrated picture of society in a given time within numerous, multiple and continuous changes, which cannot be defined through other data collecting methods. The census provides a suitable database for comparisons and projections of demographic data as well as social and economic characteristics of society. Population census doesn't operate strictly for the benefit of the federal government however, all of its findings are available to and for use by the public, policy analysts, local and state governments and business and industry that will also lead to the development of this country. 

The last time Nigeria conducted a census was in 2006 and the result of that census put the population of the country at 140.43 million persons comprising 71.3 million Male and 69.0 million females. It a shame that Nigeria still relies on that population data that was obtained in the last census which was 16 years ago. Before the last census that was held in 2006, the 1991 census put Nigeria’s population at 89 million. In the sixteen-year period between 1991 and 2006, the country’s population grew by 57.1%. 

The United Nation (UN) recommends a census enumeration a minimum of once in every 10 years, estimates based on the same data for policy making. It has been sixteen years since the last census, Nigeria has made plans based on population projections by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS). NBS had projected that the country’s population would have grown up to 193 million persons in 2016, a 37.8% increase over a ten-year period. Ideally, a census should be conducted every 10 years. This period allows the government to capture the changes in structure and movement of population correctly. A Population and Housing Census ought to have been conducted in 2016, shortly after the President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office. However, the new government could not be able to conduct the census due to the economic recession in 2017.

The second attempt to also conduct census was in 2020 but it could not hold due to the pandemic. Interestingly, it was reported that Buhari’s government has approved the sum of N176bn for the exercise in this year’s budget to enable them execute the project in 2023. 

The full exercise is scheduled to hold in April 2023, two months after the conduct of the general elections, President Muhammadu Buhari  in Abuja at the national stakeholders summit said the deployment of digital technology in the 2023 National Population and Housing Census will ensure effectiveness and more accuracy in the figures, while noting that Nigeria could rank third largest in the world by 2050, after China and India.

Speaking at the national stakeholders’ summit on the 2023 Population and Housing Census held at the State House, President Buhari said a “reliable, credible, acceptable and successful census’’ will help the government in planning purposes for development, especially in bolstering the social security programme that targets more vulnerable Nigerians.

“The country’s inability to conduct a population census in the last 16 years has created an information vacuum as the data from the last census conducted in 2006 has been rendered out of date for planning purposes. It has therefore become imperative for the nation to conduct another national census to produce a new set of demographic and socio-economic data that will provide the basis for national planning and sustainable development.

“Population is a critical factor in a nation’s efforts toward achieving sustainable development. People are both the agents and beneficiaries of the development process. Knowledge of the national population in terms of size, distribution and socio-economic characteristics is required for planning purposes. This, therefore, makes the conduct of census an essential governance activity.

“With a projected population of 216,783,381, Nigeria is the sixth most populous country in the world and the most populous country on the African continent. Due to the rapidly growing nature of the population and large proportion of the youthful population, Nigeria is also projected to be the third most populous country in the World by the year 2050 after India and China,’’ he said.

In as much as Nigeria is regarded as one of the high ranking country on the global demographic map, the President said its population censuses had been conducted irregularly and at intervals, longer than the United Nations recommended 10 years.

“This irregular and long interval of census taking in Nigeria, has denied the nation the huge benefits of comprehensive baseline data for evidence-based decision-making.

“Since our assumption of office in 2015, our administration has introduced several poverty-reduction and youth empowerment programmes, which are making concrete improvements in the living standards of our people. There is a need to ensure that further implementation of these programmes will be driven by the 2023 Census data that will improve the implementation of programmes targeting vulnerable populations and ensure as widespread coverage as possible.

 “The nation requires a new data set to drive the implementation of the recently launched revised National Policy on Population for Sustainable Development and other government policies. The 2023 Census data is also needed to tackle the security challenges bedevilling the country as it will give an overview of the population, where we are and who we are.’’ So there is urgent need to have it conducted in 2023 and every Nigerians needs to also have their roles to play not just the officials alone

Most Nigerians resist responding to questions asked by census officials, the feel their job is to count and leave they feel suspicious and not necessarily want to share any personal information, considering it pose a potential invasion of their privacy such as age, sex, marital status, household composition, family characteristics, and household size. Information is also collected on economic measures including labor force participation, occupation, place of work, employment-related industry, and educational attributes such as school attendance, educational attainment, and literacy, they may also want to get data on migration information is also collected. questions on place of birth, place of usual residence, duration of residence, and prior place of residence allow planners to examine population movements. However, all answers to all census questionnaires are confidential. Though the National Population Commission may ask questions that seem exceedingly personal about household income, for example, or the nature of one's relationships to others in a household the information collected is kept confidential by federal law and is used simply for statistical purposes. They are only used to produce statistics. The National Population Commission is bound by law to protect answers and keep them strictly confidential. The law ensures that private information is never published and that answers cannot be used against respondents by any government agency or court, it is to improve the economic.

In order to achieve this for the betterment of our economy all stakeholders, which include State Governments, Local Government Councils, Traditional and Religious Institutions, Civil Society Organizations, Private Sectors, media, Development Partners, Donor Agencies and the general populace needs to play their part by educating the younger generation to make themselves available to be counted and provide the necessary information that will be require from them to enable a successful conduct of the Census next year.

‘Ekele Emmanuel.