President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, stated that the planned 2023 population and housing census would provide a better framework for the government’s fight against poverty and insecurity.
This was as he lamented the dearth of up-to-date information since the 2006 census, which, he argued, has impeded the country’s national planning.
The President said this in a statement titled ‘How we can have more accuracy in the 2023 census – President Buhari’, signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, during his keynote address at the National Stakeholders’ Summit on the 2023 Census, held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
Buhari, who acknowledged that Nigeria could rank as the third-largest country in terms of population by 2050, after China and India, said a “reliable, credible, acceptable and successful census” will enable the government to plan for development, especially in bolstering the social security programme that targets more vulnerable Nigerians.
The President stated that the deployment of digital technology in the 2023 National Population and Housing Census would ensure greater effectiveness and accuracy in the figures produced by the exercise.
He said, “The country’s inability to conduct a population census in the last 16 years has created an information vacuum as the data from the last census performed in 2006 has been rendered out of date for planning purposes.
“It has therefore become imperative for the nation to conduct another national census to produce a new set of demographic and socio-economic data that will provide the basis for national planning and sustainable development.
“Population is a critical factor in a nation’s efforts toward achieving sustainable development. People are both the agents and beneficiaries of the development process. Knowledge of the national population in terms of size, distribution and socio-economic characteristics is required for planning purposes.
With a projected population of 216,783,381, Buhari noted that Nigeria is the sixth most populous country in the world and the continent’s most populous country.
He added that due to the rapidly growing nature of the population and large proportion of the youthful population, Nigeria is also projected to be the third most populous country in the World by the year 2050 after India and China.
The President also lamented that despite Nigeria’s high-ranking position on the global demographic map, her population censuses have been conducted irregularly and at intervals, longer than the United Nations recommended 10 years.
He said, “This irregular and long interval of census taking in Nigeria has denied the nation the enormous benefits of comprehensive baseline data for evidence-based decision-making.
“Since we assumed office in 2015, our administration has introduced several poverty reduction and youth empowerment programmes, which are making concrete improvements in the living standards of our people.
Buhari further argued that the nation requires a new data set to drive the implementation of the recently launched revised National Policy on Population for Sustainable Development and other government policies.
He said the 2023 Census data is also needed to tackle the security challenges bedevilling the country, as it will give an overview of the population, where we are and who we are.
The President, therefore, called for the support of stakeholders, which include State Governments, Local Government Councils, Traditional and Religious Institutions, Civil Society Organizations, Private Sectors, media, Development Partners, Donor Agencies and the general populace for the successful conduct of the 2023 Census.
In his remarks, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who was represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, Dr Habiba Lawal, corroborated Buhari’s earlier remarks saying that with a population growth rate of 2.3 per cent, Nigeria would likely be the third most populated country in the world by 2050.
She stated that the 2023 Census would be the first fully digital population and housing census, and the outcome would be useful for planning and budgetary allocations.
On his part, the Chairman of the NPC, Nasir Kwarra, thanked the President for the approval for the 2023 Census in April, after the general elections, assuring him that the commission will work hard to make it “credible and acceptable’’
