The National Population Commission (NPC) says it is making effort through the National Assembly to make the population and housing census a constitutional matter to meet the United Nations requirement.
The Federal Commissioner, Federal Capital Territory, Joseph Kwali made this known at a capacity building workshop for journalists on “Effective Reporting of the 2023 Population and Housing Census” on Friday in Abuja.
Kwali said the Commission would approach the National Assembly to make it a constitutional matter for census to be conducted every 10 years following the United Nations requirement.
According to him, census is a national event and it is the responsibility of every citizen to participate by presenting themselves to be counted.
“The Commission will no doubt need the support of all stakeholders to deliver to the country a credible and reliable data it can use for sustainable development planning.
“The Commission has successfully demarcated 774 local government areas in all the states of the federation and the FCT.
“The Commission has also conducted the first and second census pre-test exercises to test the census instruments in preparation for the census,” Kwali said.
The commissioner said the aim of the workshop was to share with journalists the vision of the Commission and seek their support to ensure broad-based nation’s cooperation for the implementation of the activities of NPC especially the forthcoming 2023 census.
“Getting the 2023 Population and Housing Census right is a task that must be done and the Commission is committed to ensuring that everything about the Census is done rightly and professionally,” he said.
In his goodwill message, the Chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council, Abubakar Giri while commending the Commission for the training said that the census would enhance social and economic development of the country.
Represented by Alhaji Muhammad Saba, the Secretary of the Council, Giri, therefore, urged the media to ensure the information reached every nook and corner of the federation.
Also, Mr Muhammad Sule, Director, Information and Communications, Abuja Digist, said the Population and Housing Census was crucial for national planning.
Represented by his Senior Assistant, Ben Ukeji, Sule while commending the Commission for organising the workshop for journalists said that the media played a critical role in dissemination of factual, accurate and timely information in any given society.
“The importance of the media in the public enlightenment, sensitisation and education among others cannot be over emphasised, it is therefore, the right thing for journalists to be involved in all the affairs of governance in order to guarantee a better society,” he said.
