The Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, Dr. Garba Abari, has said that the 2023 National Population and Housing Census would be credible and accurate as it would be performed digitally.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that Abari revealed this while participating in a forum on March 26, 2023, in Abuja.
Abari, a member of the National Publicity and Advocacy Committee on Census, claimed that, in contrast to the nation’s previous census, this one will be made easier by the use of digital technologies.
Abari remarked that 99% of all homes and buildings within Nigeria’s area had been collected digitally, considerably exceeding what Google can supply. He claimed that this census will be different from the previous ones.
“This is one census that will be different from past ones,” he declared. This census will be conducted digitally to increase the exercise’s credibility.”
Beyond what Google has accomplished with its mapping, the National Population Commission has mastered the space and understood the goal of house listing and numbering.
“NPC has considerably beyond what Google had done in terms of specificity and the accuracy of the capture of every house and hamlet in Nigeria.”
“We may not claim to be entirely accurate, but 99 percent of all houses and buildings within the enclave of Nigeria’s land had been captured digitally, much beyond the level of accuracy offered by Google.”
The NOA boss noted that the exercise’s digitization will increase credibility, guarantee correct data, and adapt to new technology, in line with accepted international practice.
He claimed that because there is a standard template for the exercise and everything will be sent to the cloud, “digitalization will enhance the credibility.”
Due to a possible lack of understanding of the purpose of the exercise, we may have erred in our previous census exercises.
When seen from the other side, it was discovered that some states, local governments, and senatorial districts are larger than others.
And in the process, you miss out on the program’s most crucial component, which is gathering enough data for planning.
“Yet, the census of 2023 will be based on science; it will be digital and in response to the information and technological revolution. Its goal will be to bring in a force that is credible, acceptable, open, and transparent.”
Remember that the Federal Government declared on March 15, 2023, that it has changed the population and housing census from May 2023 to the earlier scheduled on March 29, 2023, due to the postponement of the governorship and state houses of assembly election to March 18, 2023.
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, had on March 6, 2023, earlier revealed that over $1.88 billion (N869 billion) was needed to conduct the census.
