Population Census: Commission deploys 786,741 personnel to Kwara State
Emmanuel kehinde,Ilorin
The National Population Commission (NPC) has deployed 786,741 personnel to Kwara for the 2023 Population and Housing Census.
The NPC Federal Commissioner in the state, Alhaji AbdulRazaq Gidado, said this during a workshop organised for journalists on “Effective Reporting of 2023 Census”, in Ilorin, Kwara state.
He said the workshop was aimed at improving the quality and quantity of media content on the 2023 Population and Housing Census (PHC).
Gidado said it would also strengthen journalists understanding of basic concepts in census taking, neutralise negative prejudices, misperception and misrepresentation, and update them on the preparatory activities for the exercise.
The federal commissioner said that the unique thing about the 2023 census was that the country would be conducting a digital and paperless census for the first time.
He said the exercise would be conducted with the latest technology in population data collection all over the country.
“Population census entails the complete enumeration of all persons, while the housing census will enumerate all living quarters and their characteristics, within Nigerian borders at a specified time.
“As an innovation, the 2023 PHC will also collect data on climate change for programmes planning in education, health, housing and other social services at all levels of governance.
“In addition, information derived from the census will help business and private sectors to plan their activities,” Gidado said.
A Resource person, Mr Adepoju Emmanuel said that more than two million people applied for the various categories of work such as facilitators, data quality managers, monitoring and evaluation officers.
Others, he said, are field coordinators, supervisors and enumerators, while 786,741 were deployed.
Alhaji Sa’eed Yusuf, the State Director of the NPC, said that the workshop which started at the national level, was stepped down to all the states of the federation, including Kwara.
According to Yusuf, the commission will be conducting the first digital census in the country with a view to giving Nigerians and the world at large a reliable, accurate and acceptable data.
He enjoined the media to enlighten the public as well as support the personnel for the success of the exercise as stakeholders in the 2023 census.
Our correspondent, reports that other resource persons delivered papers at the workshop, including the state Public Relations Officer of the Commission, Mrs Ganiyat Lawal.
They highlighted some of the steps taken by the commission for the success of the census and the duties of journalists before, during and after the exercise.
