The Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Identity and National Population, Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi, has lament­ed the absence of accurate popu­lation data to plan Nigeria.

He also regretted that succes­sive administrations have relied on inconsistent numbers making it difficult to arrive at a strategic plan for the future.

Addressing a delegation from the National Population Commis­sion (NPC) led by the Chairman, Nasir Isa Kaura, Senator Ningi said, “Public analysts say that Nigerians are over 200 million. Some would say 220 (million). Just yesterday, I heard that we are over 250 million.

“All those things are mere guess works. And it is the popu­lation commission that is saddled with the constitutional responsi­bility to do that. And that has been actually emphasised by an Act of Parliament.

“I want to prepare your mind as to the assignment before us. It is not an easy assignment, it is not any how assignment. It has to do with the future of this country, and how we move as a nation.

“If we want to belong to the comity of nations that make impact in the world, we need to know what we are doing, we need to know our capacity.

“And without knowing who are we, and how many are we. We can’t continue to guess.”

He further revealed that pop­ulation census “is not about how many Christians are in Lagos, how many Muslims are in Lagos. How many Yorubas, how many Igbos. That is not the importance of population census. It has to do with preparation for tomorrow.

“It doesn’t matter who you are. We go to Alaba Market, Muslims, Christians. So, if you say how many Christians go to Alaba Market, how many Muslims go to Alaba Market, what is impor­tance of that?

“Whatever comes to Lagos, Lagosians share whether Chris­tians or Muslims. So, these are all small, small things that make the issue of census or public account a very major dogma.”

He explained that Nigerians over time continue to contest census figures, as he urged the delegation to take the need for an accurate census to the grassroots.

A member of the committee and the senator representing Jigawa North-West, Babangida Hussaini (APC), in his contri­bution urged a “a different look of what population census is all about,” as he regretted that the current centralised approach is not achieving the desired effect for the nation.

He highlighted migration and emigration as challenges facing proper census in the country.

Senator Hussaini also insist­ed that measures need to be put in place for the proper policing of the country’s 927,000sq kilo­metres of land to check illegal immigrants.

“Today, our borders are as open as the sky. These are issues that are germane to population growths, to plan cities, to issues of education, security, water, name it.

“So, I think the starting point is for us to appreciate what popu­lation census is all about.”

On her part, Saidat Olayinka Oladunjiye, President Bola Tinu­bu’s nominee as NPC Commis­sioner for Lagos State assured the committee of a rich guideline to side the NPC at a successful enu­meration exercise.

She explained that the com­mission would deploy the Geo­graphic Information System (GIS), adding that “the population census we are going to have this time is going to be one of the best in the country because like you said data is blood.”

She also revealed that the commission has robust plans for capturing of children in the up­coming exercise.

“I want to say with all sense of humility, having served as commissioner twice in the state, I know how it is, and I know how to get things done.

“I know the indices of how to access children. I want to say to you that in Lagos State I have access to my colleagues as com­missioner that I could leverage on to get things done.” 

According to her, the next population census would be the best in the history of the country, maintaining that NPC would em­bark on capacity building for staff, as well as partnering with local government administrations to ensure the success of the exercise.

On religion, she underscored that the commission will empha­sise on competence, adding that “once you’re competent you’ll get the job.”

“We know what we are going to do. We have the template. We have the programme. We are go­ing to work with all relevant gov­ernment agencies— ministry of education, health, environment, local government chairmen, lo­cal government ministries, the ministry of information to get the necessary information out.

“So, at the end of the day the population census is going to be the best.”

On low technology penetra­tion in parts of the country that may hamper the deployment of the GIS for the exercise, Oladun­jiye revealed that the commission would adopt same strategy used by the Independent National Elec­toral Commission (INEC) on the use of the Bimodal Voter Accredi­tation System (BVAS) for election.