Conduct of national census before end of 2020 – TheNigerialawyer

The House of Representatives has asked the federal government to
immediately put in motion, preparation for the conduct of a
comprehensive national census before the end of 2020, saying the
exercise was long overdue.

The House said it is unfortunate that Nigeria has relied solely
on projections by foreign bodies on her population figures for
planning, adding that it was extremely important to conduct a new
national census.

Moving the motion on the need to commence the exercise, Hon.
Ademorin Kuye (APC, Lagos) described population census as an
important national assignment because its figures are critical for
national planning.

He said the lack of accurate data on the population of Nigeria
has been affecting national planning and development at all levels
and therefore asked the House to compel the National Population
Commission to come up with a comprehensive timetable for the
conduct of the census.

He explained that it was because of its importance that
countries across the world carry out this exercise once every ten
years, adding that without a census, and an accurate data of the
number of people in a given country, no government can provide
adequately for its citizens.

He said at the moment, the country’s population is predicated on
projected figures provided by foreign organizations like the United
Nations, thus making planning extremely difficult in the absence of
a population census which the National Population Commission (NPC)
would have conducted every ten (10) years, as is obtainable in
other countries.

He said further that since the first census was held in Lagos in
1866, there had been a trend towards better planned and more
reliable census exercises as subsequent census exercises, adding
however that the 1952/1953 census was the first modern, national
and carefully planned census in the country and the outcome was
generally accepted.

Hon Kuye expressed concern that the last national census was
conducted in 2006, adding that until it becomes mandatory to
conduct census at given intervals like elections, Nigeria will
continue to have delays in organizing national census.

He disclosed that it has become extremely important to conduct
another census to ascertain the country’s actual population in
order to do away with projected figures, a development that will
enable the Government to plan better for the citizens.

He expressed concern that if adequate measures are not put in
place to ensure that population census is conducted periodically,
at least once every 10 years, Nigeria will be lacking in the
statistical data of its citizens either politically or
economically.

Hon. Kuye said further that in 2016, the World Bank estimated
Nigeria’s population at 186 million, while the United Nations put
the figures at 180 million with a growth rate of 2.7.

He said that in 2018, the National Assembly called for the
postponement of the proposed 2018 population census on the ground
that such an exercise, coming on the eve of the 2019 general
elections, could end in chaos.

He acknowledged the fact that Nigeria was a dynamic economy with
a large population which is expected to double in the next two
decades, adding that the national census was therefore a pivotal
and necessary tool for the growth of any emerging society.

The House resolved to ask the Federal Government to put an end
to the uncertainties surrounding the nation’s actual population by
putting in place necessary machineries to conduct the national
census not later than 2020.

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