The National Population Commission (NPC) on Thursday inaugurated the security and logistics committees in Edo, ahead of the forthcoming National Population and Housing Census.
The NPC Federal Commissioner in the state, Dr Tony Aiyejina, during the inauguration in Benin, said the arrangement became imperative due to the current security situation in the country.
The committee includes; the heads of all security agencies in the state, leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Aiyejina said the commission was determined to conduct the exercise in a secured environment, where the officials and materials would be safe.
“I want to salute the gallantry and sacrifices of officers and men of our security services, some of whom have paid the ultimate price in combating the security challenges currently bedeviling the country.
“It is against this background that the role of this committee will be pivotal, critical and strategic toward the successful conduct of the census in Edo.
“I also have a personal conviction that our gallant security agents will rise up to the occasion and make Edo safe for the 2023 population and housing census.
“As you are aware, Nigeria as a nation has a checkered history of organizing censuses, right from the first census that was conducted in 1866, to the last one which took place in 2006,” he said.
The NPC federal commissioner said that Nigeria was the most populous country in Africa and was projected to become the third in the world, after India and China by the year 2050.
“There is no gain saying the fact that the country is much overdue for a census 17 years after the last one was conducted,” the commissioner said.
In his presentation, the NPC National Director of Data, Mr Afegbua Abubakar, said the census would be digital and Nigeria would be the fourth country in Africa to infuse such technology for national headcount.
“Nigeria will be the 4th country in Africa to conduct a digital census, an indication that the exercise will accommodate all, as it will be conducted via satellite and whatever materials generated will be safe and not open to manipulation,” he said.
Mr Ahmed Dankwara, the Commissioner of Police in the state, who responded on behalf of the committee members, said the census was a national project that would involve all Nigerians.
Dankwara, represented by DCP Kunle Olusoga, gave assurance that the committee would work with the commission to deliver a hitch-free census.
