By The impending housing and population count in Census 2023 would include counting the mentally ill, the homeless, and every other living thing in Nigeria, according to the National Population Commission.
This was said on Wednesday in Akure during a one-day capacity-building workshop for the 2023 population and housing census publicity committee by Prince Diran Iyantan, the NPC Federal Commissioner representing Ondo State.
Iyantan clarified that the workshop’s goal was not to question the professionalism of the publicity committee members while assuring Nigerians that the 2023 census would be at least 98% successful.
However, it is to improve their ability to carry out their missions.
Due to the psychology of the participants, he highlighted that the committee was one of the most crucial committees to guide the activity.
He claimed that this was the case since many people were typically hesitant to enroll in government programs.
“Our governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, deemed it wise to form the committee with seasoned professionals to have a seamless process in the state because of the importance of this exercise.”
The State Director of NPC, Mr. Oluyemi Falusi, noted that the digitalization of the census was in line with UN recommendations when speaking about the digital advancements in the 2023 census.
According to Falusi, the 2023 exercise would be Nigeria’s first digital census, and it will allow for quicker processes, decrease mistakes, track progress, assure efficiency, and ensure rapid release of results, among other benefits.
He clarified how the processes involved in the training, hiring, deployment, conduct, analysis, publication, and other aspects of the exercise were fully digitalized.
Falusi added that a strong monitoring and assessment system had been established, along with a 5-tier approach.
He stated that the state would have a call center and a situation room to monitor the exercise’s daily progress.
In order to ensure that reports were produced immediately, he added that data analysis would be carried out right away using the digital technology tools that were available.
The conduct of the population census in the nation, according to Dr. Olufunbi Olowookere, head of the state’s census department, had been irregular.
The country’s existing population estimates, Olowookere continued, were based on speculation and estimates, which is why a population and housing census must be conducted in 2023.
She outlined how the census was required for governmental policy execution as well as economic and sociopolitical planning.
She said that the boundaries of Nigeria’s land mass had been established for the exercise and that professionals in the fields of health, agriculture, business, education, and other fields could use the exercise’s data.
Commenting on how to create media content for the exercise, the state’s head of public affairs, Ms. Santos Odunayo, noted that state journalists had received training to enhance quality media content.
They have also received training in dispelling false assumptions and inaccurate criticisms of the activity as well as educating and enhancing acceptability.
She stated that by providing the public with pertinent information, the media played a crucial role in the process.
She continued by saying that the commission relies on the media to win over the people and guarantee the process’ complete success.
Ondo State House of Assembly Committee on Information Chairman Mr. Olugbenga Omole, Ondo State NUJ Chairman Mr. Leke Adegbite, and Ondo State Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) State Chairman Rev. Father Anselm Ologunwa were present at the workshop.
