By Stanley O. Nwosu
Exactly a month ago, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his determination to address immediate economic challenges and ensure the streamlined execution of economic strategies, established the Economic Management Team Emergency Taskforce (EET) with a mandate to formulate and implement a consolidated emergency economic plan covering the next six months. The economic emergency taskforce comprises key government officials, Governors and industry leaders headed by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance.
A cursory look at the list of members that composed the Economic Management Team Emergency Taskforce shows heads of relevant MDAs and economic technocrats but one notable omission is the absence of a representative from the National Population Commission, the leading data-generating agency in Nigeria. It brings the question as to which data EET plans to use to execute its mandate and achieve intended results. This is because planning relies not just basically on data but credible, reliable and accurate data in order to make efficient use of limited available resources for maximal satisfaction.
In Nigeria, the National Population Commission provides the demographic data for national planning and sustainable development. It carries out this constitutional mandate through the conduct of censuses and periodic surveys; registration of vital statistics including births and deaths throughout the federation; coordinating the formulation and implementation of National Population Policy; advising the President on population matters; and collecting, collating and publishing data on migration statistics amongst other functions.
The mandate of the NPC has given it the platform to be the custodian of Nigeria’s most comprehensive and reliable database. The national geospatial data repository generated by the NPC through the conduct of the Enumeration Area Demarcation exercise in the 774 LGAs of the country in preparation for the upcoming first digital Population and Housing Census in Nigeria is the largest and most reliable dataset in Africa. No agency in Nigeria has such a large and complete volume of geospatial resources the NPC has generated for the country. Even Google map data is not as rich, detailed and complete as the EAD geospatial data. The national geospatial data repository is a game-changing accomplishment that captured the geo-coordinates of all buildings, roads and water bodies in Nigeria and produced various datasets such as digital EA maps, INEC ward boundary map, mobile network map, Nigeria postcode system and post office mapping, boundary dispute map, rapid relief intervention map, infrastructure proximity and planning map, current security risk areas in Nigeria etc for census and development planning of the country.
The National Population Commission has digitized the process of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Nigeria through the launch of a digital masterpiece application called VITALREG, where one can at the convenience of his/her laptop/mobile device register and print certificates of significant events like birth and death and other services such as birth attestation, marriage and divorce notification, migration, verification of vital certificates and hospital onboarding. This innovation makes the integration and sharing of data with other agencies seamless and easy.
NPC also coordinates all activities of the population sector and ensures collaboration and synergy across sectoral lines in monitoring the implementation of the National Policy on Population for Sustainable Development and the Demographic Dividends agenda in Nigeria. National Population Policy is a comprehensive document that addresses all population and development concerns with overarching goals to improve the quality of life and standards of living of people in Nigeria. It is a strategic tool guiding the implementation of the national development plans. Just a few days ago, NPC in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA organized the global launch of the 2024 State of the World Population (SWOP) Report in Abuja to further demonstrate its coordinating role in population and development issues in Nigeria.
I took the time to state the mandate of the National Population Commission for better understanding and appreciation of the kind and quality of comprehensive data of Nigeria’s population in possession of NPC. No agency in Nigeria knows Nigeria’s population better than NPC. So, as a strategic data-generating agency, NPC has a crucial role to play in providing data for evidence-based planning and effective implementation of the economic plans of the EET to create a greater impact on the lives of Nigerians.
Many good policies in Nigeria failed because they were planned without accurate and credible data on the population. The government keeps repeating the same mistakes of the past and expecting to achieve different results. During the composition of the Presidential Taskforce team for the COVID-19 Palliative, a representative from the number one data-generating agency was conspicuously missing and we all know how the distribution of the palliatives ended without getting to the most of intended beneficiaries. It baffles me how the government intends to achieve positive developmental results without accurate data on the population. We are where we are simply because we have failed to move away from where we are. It is that simple. It is an irony of a nation.
The Economic Management Team Emergency Taskforce seriously needs a representative from the National Population Commission in its team because the NPC is too critical to the realization of the mandate of the EET. Setting up a taskforce team to formulate, implement and monitor a consolidated emergency economic plan to advance Nigeria’s economic objectives without a representative from NPC is a recipe for failure.
President Bola Tinubu has shown in the time past to be a man who loves to plan and work with data. It is expected that reliable and accurate data should guide the formulation and implementation of his administration’s policies. He should not only include and carry NPC along in the composition of economic and development teams but should go further to proclaim census date so that the country will have up-to-date data for planning and policy formulation.
As Jesus Christ stated in the Holy Book, that Martha worried and troubled about many things, but only one thing is needed and Mary has chosen that good part. President Tinubu has been struggling to fix the economy and set the country on the path of economic progression and development but only one thing is needed to address all the challenges bedeviling the country and also actualize his administration’s renewed hope agenda and that only thing is the next Population and Housing Census data. The next census holds the key and solution to Nigeria’s socioeconomic problems. No wonder many Western and a few African countries that have chosen the only good part that is needed (regular conduct of censuses) like the Biblical Mary, are more developed and prosperous nations.
The upcoming Census which will be the first digital and green Population and Housing Census in Nigeria will provide verifiable data of Nigeria’s population, how many they are, who they are and where they live for evidence-based planning and development of the country. It will be the first time that Nigeria’s population will be geo-defined because everyone resident in the country will be counted and attached to a building or location that has been geo-coded. The next census promises to be transformational and transgenerational and will re-write the history of census-taking in Nigeria.
President Tinubu should as a matter of urgency choose the only one thing that is necessary to address Nigeria’s challenges to bring about economic growth and sustainable development in the country by proclaiming the date for the conduct of the next Population and Housing Census and also include the Chairman of the National Population Commission in the Economic Management Team Emergency Taskforce for effective implementation of its mandate.
- Stanley Onyeka Nwosu, a Public Affairs Analyst, Political Economist and Development Expert, is the NPC social media and website manager in Abuja