• Organises three-day capacity building workshop for journalists
Chairman National Population Commission, NPC, Hon Nasir Isa Kwarra has said that getting the 2023 Population and Housing Census right is a task that must be done and that the Commission is committed to ensuring that everything about the census is done rightly and professionally.
Hon Isa Kwarra said this on Monday in Karu, Nasarawa state while declaring open a three-day capacity building workshop to train journalists for the exercise.
“We have the clear vision, commitment and professional capacity to deliver on this historic mandate.
“With the approval by Mr President for the conduct of the next Population and Housing Census in 2023, preparations are in top gear for the successful implementation of the census project. Census is a national event and is the responsibility of every citizen to participate by presenting themselves to be counted. The Commission will no doubt, need the support of all stakeholders to deliver to the country a credible and reliable data it can use for sustainable development planning”.
He said that there is no gainsaying that any organisation that strives to achieve success must constantly convey information to all its stakeholders of which the media is very important, in order to secure their cooperation and support.
Isa Kwarra noted that for a people-oriented organisation such as the National Population Commission, constant and effective engagement with the media is a crucial first step it must take in the attainment of its constitutional mandate of generating data for national planning.
Over the years, the Commission has invested considerable time and resources planning for the census by drawing from its rich institutional experience spanning two censuses and a pool of tested professionals to give the nation a truly digital and scientific census that will generate data for national planning within the context of the present realities.
“I am pleased to inform you all that the outcome of the preparatory activities of the 2023 Population and Housing census has been reassuring. The Commission has successfully demarcated 772 Local Government Areas, LGAs, in all the States of the federation and the FCT, the remaining two LGAs of Abadam (Borno State) and Birning Gwari (Kaduna State) which has not been demarcated as a result of security challenge will be demarcated very soon.
“The Commission has also conducted the first and the second census pre-test exercises to test the census instruments in preparation for the census. The trial census will be conducted in June this year”, he stated.
The Commission is on course in its mission of delivering an accurate census to Nigerians and a strategic partnership with the media will form the tripod upon which the census architecture will stand to reach-out to the Nigerian people.
“Therefore, the convening of this training workshop is one of such engagements and it underscores the determination and commitment of the Commission to conduct a successful Population and Housing Census in 2023 by engaging the media to effectively mobilize the citizenry by “getting the people involved”.
The NPC Chairman emphasised that the
media have over the years advanced positively the activities of the Commission to the world, and as a result, it is with this understanding that the present Commission is convinced that building the capacity of the Press and deepening their understanding of the census process will no doubt enhance the productivity of individual correspondents in reporting even more positively the activities of the Commission to the Nigerian people before, during and after the census.
The overarching goal of the workshop, the NPC Chairman explained, is to share the vision of the Commission and draw support to ensure broad based national cooperation for the implementation of the activities
