As part of the preparation to conduct a credible and acceptable Population and Housing Census in 2023, the National Population Commission (NPC) on Thursday, presented the localities list to sixteen (16) local government chairmen in Kwara State.
Presenting the compendium on localities at a workshop held in Ilorin, the Federal Commissioner in charge of Kwara state, Alhaji AbdulRasak Gidado, said the purpose of the workshop is to enable local government authorities and other stakeholders to examine the list and raise observations in an obscure area.
Said the compendium on localities is organized by the NPC in collaboration with other Stakeholders to finalize and present to the grassroots the final list of localities for the 2023 Population and Housing Census.
The Commissioner said the leadership of NPC in the state is committed to collaborating and partnering with the relevant agencies to advance state and national development.
“The objective of this State Compendium of localities Workshop is to display all the localities demarcated during the Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) on a Local Government Area basis showing the coverage and location on interactive maps.
The commissioner further explained that the compendium of locality in the Census is taking a tool for Census data dissemination as well as for National planning and development.
According to him, the 2023 Population and Housing Census results will be released up to the lowest level of the Census entities which could be as small as a camp.
“The Compendium of locality which will be presented to the President before the 2023 Population and Housing Census will be approved with the consensus of stakeholders.
“We are happy that the National Population Commissions acquired a lot of data sets that will be useful for National development.
He said the commission is ready to deliver an accurate, reliable and acceptable census that will be purposefully relevant in the drive towards sustainable national development.
Mr Gidado, however, assures Kwarans that the commission is committed to positively rewriting the history of the state.
In his remarks, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Kwara State, Malam Garba Attairu Madami, said INEC and NPC have a synergy because Census revealed more data and make work to be easier and faster.
According to him, the census is very important to national development, knowing the population of a country makes the leaders plan. He said, currently Nigeria is in darkness because of a lack of data.
The Rec said NPC provide more information of data for research and analysis for development and planning.
He, however, urged the stakeholders presented at the workshop to take the 2023 census as a national assignment and to be patriotic enough to make the 2023 census a precedented one that will change the narrative of the state.
In his speech, Alhaji Sa’eed Adebayo, the State Director National Population Commission, Kwara State, said the 2-day workshop is scaled down to all states of the federation.
He further explained that the e-recruitment portal has been opened, and urged all the stakeholders at the seminar to inform the people at their various local governments to apply.
