The National Population Commission has presented soft copies of locality list to the chairmen of the 18 local government councils in the Cross River State.
The Federal Commissioner representing Cross River State in the Commission, Navy Captain Charles Ogwa (retd.), made the presentation in Calabar.
Ogwa said that with the presentation, the councils had been given a 14-day deadline for the return of the soft copies to enable it go into the national frame for the census proper.
Explaining the objectives of the exercise, he said, “This exercise is intended to display the concise, compiled compendium of localities in all the 18 LGAs for validation by the stakeholders who are the council chairmen and the traditional institution.
“They will do the corrections first. When they do the corrections, it means they have validated it. If it is validated, it is stamped and put in the national frame for the census proper and they have 14 days from today which is the day of receipt, to return the list,” the federal commissioner said.
He assured the council chairmen, traditional rulers and other stakeholders that the commission is irrevocably committed to rewrite the history of census in Nigeria.
“I wish to use this opportunity to assure the people of Cross River that the Commission is irrevocably committed to positively rewrite the history of censuses in Nigeria.
“We hope to deliver to this great nation accurate, reliable and acceptable census that will be purposefully relevant in the drive towards sustainable national development,” the NPC Federal Commissioner assured.
In her speech, the Chairman of Calabar South Local Government Area, Hon Esther Bassey, appealed to the people of the area to take census-related issues seriously.
The Head of Ikun Community in Biase Local Government Area, Onun Ogban Bassey, said he had 100 percent faith in the forthcoming census as this will help us know how many we are in a locality, as no place will be left unaccounted for”, he said.
The Chairman of Yakurr Local Government Area in Cross River State, Obeten Ofem Ebri, promised to call other stakeholders in his local government area to look at the list, check omissions and misspellings, correct and forward to the appropriate quarters as demanded.
About the Author
THEWILL Correspondent, Aniekan Bassey has over six years experience that spans across several fields in print journalism including development communication, sexual reproductive and health rights issues, crime, climate change, social justice, business and human interest stories.
