NPC to adopt digital technology for 2023 census – Commissioner
Story from Ibraheem Hamza MUHAMMAD, Lafia
The National Population Commission (NPC) has disclosed that it has concluded plans to adopt Information Communication Technology (ICT) for the conduct of 2023 population and housing census in the country.
Mr Silas Agara, National Commissioner representing Nasarawa State who represented Alhaji Nasir Kwarra, chairman of NPC, stated this at a one day stakeholders summit on the 2023 Population and Housing Census in Lafia the Nasarawa State capital.
According to him, “The stakeholders summit on the 2023 Population and Housing Census was made up of top government officials, traditional rulers, the academia, civil society organisations, heads of security agencies in Nasarawa State to generate inputs that will enable the commission improve on the success recorded in the preparations for the exercise holding in 2023.”
“The summit was one of the major activities indicating that the commission had reached advanced stage in the preparations for the conduct of the 2023 population and housing census.
“The commitment of the commission for a transparent census that will produce acceptable results in line with the United Nations standards”, he said.
Agara who is the immediate past Deputy Governor of Nasarawa, commended the federal and state governments for their approval and support for the commission to conduct census in 2023.
He lauded Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State and traditional rulers as well as other stakeholders for their presence at the stakeholders summit and support the stat has gave the NPC.
He assured Nigerians that the commission would do everything possible to deliver a credible and reliable census in 2023.
The highlight of the summit include; papper presentations by experts on the significance of population census and questions and answers session.
In his remark, Governor Abdullahi Sule while commending the National Population Commission for adopting full digital technology for accurate and credible census, expressed optimism that the outcome would place Nasarawa State on the path of economic prosperity.
In his speech, Governor Sule lauded the National Population Commission (NPC) for the success recorded so far ahead of the 2023 planned census in the country.
According to Sule, the success recorded by the commission at the recently held trial census was indeed a confirmation of the level of preparedness by the commission to ensure a credible census.
The governor also commended NPC for engaging with stakeholders and getting their inputs with a view of building confidence for the success of the proposed April 2023 census exercise.
He said, “Population is a critical factor toward sustainable development and any nation desirous of development must know the accurate population to enable proper planning and execution of plans.
“The importance of census cannot be overemphasize as no nation desirous of development relies on estimated population, because such estimate often ignores demography that can only be revealed by census.”
Governor Sule explained that the state is seriously in need of a census because the population of Karu Local Government Area alone is more than the population of the state as captured during the 2006 census.
He, therefore, promised to continue to support the commission towards the success of the 2023 population census exercise.
