Chime Tasks NPC On Credible Census

Governor Sullivan
Chime of Enugu State has urged the National Population Commission (NPC) to shun socio-religious sentiments if it was to conduct a credible population census in 2016.
The governor who was represented by the State Commissioner for Lands, Dr Chukwuemeka Ujam, gave the advice in Enugu, where he opened a training workshop on the Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) organised by the commission preparatory to the population census in 2016.
He expressed regret that previous exercises were marred by controversies arising from conflicting interests, geopolitical and ethnic relations as well as balance of power.
“Population is indeed the major asset of any society. It constitutes the major resource for development and at the same time, it is also the prime beneficiary of development in the society.
“Having a fair and reliable estimate of the population of a country enables the government to plan effectively for the welfare and continued improvement in the standard of living of the citizenry.
“I must commend the National Population Commission for embarking on this initiative which I consider very important step toward achieving this all important objective.
“It is also my candid advice that members of the commission should carry out their duties with patriotic zeal, divesting themselves from any social, ethnic or religious sentiments and work towards giving the nation a credible and reliable census result,“ he said
In a keynote address, the acting Chairman of NPC, Dr Sam Ahaiwe, said the workshop was to educate personnel of the commission on ways to conduct reliable census.
He explained that the participants at the workshop were professionals who were familiar with the principles and best practice of census mapping.
“This workshop marks a major step in the effort of the National Population Commission to deliver to Nigerians, accurate, reliable, and acceptable census in 2016.
“It is my hope that this workshop will give the commission the final training that will lay a solid basis for the successful conduct of the 2016 census,“ Ahaiwe said.
The NPC Federal Commissioner in charge of Enugu, Dr Festus Uzoh, expressed optimism that the commission would meet world standards for population census and also succeed in building a leading population agency in Africa by 2017.