Chairman, Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Comrade Festus Alenkhe and other stakeholders in the state have urged everyone to support and be counted during the fourth coming census in the country.
They made the call during the maiden assembly of the Edo State Census Publicity Committee held at the National Orientation Agency Hall, Benin City, recently.
The NUJ chairman said that the NUJ will ensure that his members cooperate with the National Population Commission, NPC, to enlighten the populace on the importance of being counted during the exercise.
He said, “Our responsibility is to ensure that the message get to the grass root to let them know that with the accurate census there will be lots of benefits that will assist the government to plan towards providing adequate infrastructural development for the country.”
The Muslim community represented by Malam Asunogie Nurudeen, the representative of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, and other stakeholders assured that they will support the head count.
The idea basically behind the census is to gather data for planning and they urged that everyone involved should ensure that the exercise is done with integrity.
The federal commissioner, National Population Commission, Edo State said Nigeria as a nation has a checkered history of organising census, right from the first census that was conducted in 1866, to the last one which took place in 2006.
“The present commission, leveraging on the administration’s approval and support decided to conduct a digital census for the country, the first of its kind in Nigeria. It was a paradigm shift of epochal proportions, because all processes, before, during and after the census, will be conducted on digital platforms and devices”, he noted.
The federal commissioner, represented by the state director, Okiei. Ayodele, disclosed that the formal inauguration of the state census committee will be done later, noting that, “ we had to convoke this gathering because time is of the essence and we will have to propel our activities in conformity and compliance with the national calendar of the census programme.
“It has often been said that next to war, census is the biggest most expensive and daunting exercise in peace time. Therefore, the task before the Edo State Census Publicity Committee is enormous.
“In the face of public apathy and other socioeconomic challenges, the committee must dig deep to sensitize, enlighten and mobilize the good people of Edo State for the census,” he said.
