Fayemi Cautions Against Politisation Of Proposed Census.

Fayemi Cautions Against Politisation Of Proposed Census.

Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has warned Stakehokders to prepare well for the proposed national population census slated for 2023.

The governor who gave this admonition at a stakeholders summit tagged: “Getting the People Involved”, held in Ado-Ekiti also cautioned against the politisation of the all important exercise.

Represented by the Deputy, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, the governor said population data is critical to development planning and any government desirous of achieving development strides needs to know how many people requires basic amenities such as light, water, housing, health and education facilities.

He said “it has become imperative for the nation to conduct another national census to produce a new set of demographic and socio-economic data for national planning and sustainable development”.

“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”.

Fayemi, called on all stakeholders to divorce politics from census and consider it as a purely statistical exercise that will provide veritable tools for planning and sustainable development.

Earlier, the National Population Chairman, Alhaji Nasir Kwarra promised Nigerians a fully digitalized census that would be devoid of manipulation during the 2023 population and Housing Census in Nigeria.

Kwarra, said the essence is to ensure that the census results are credible  and acceptable by all citizens in the country.

The Federal Commissioner in Ekiti State, Hon. Ayodeji Ajayi, who represented the NPC Chairman said “today's event marks a major milestone in the journey towards the first ever digital census in Nigeria. It provides us with the unique opportunity to proactively engage the good people of Ekiti State to get some positive  feedback and invaluable cooperation and support to ensure the successful conduct of a credible and acceptable census in 2023”.

“The stakeholders summit is to broaden state level support base for the successful conduct of the 2023 census”.

The NPC boss said preparations for the conduct of the 2023 population and housing Census are in top gear and as part of efforts to deliver a credible and reliable census to meet international best standard for planning and developmental purposes.

The stakeholders meeting was attended by NCWS, NOA, NYCN, NUJ, ALGON, traditional rulers, government officials, staff of the commission, who promised their support for the success of the census in Ekiti.