December 02, (THEWILL) – The National Population Commission says it has kicked off the second pre-test activity in Cross River State.
The pre-test activity is one of the pre-census activities being undertaken by the commission in preparation for the next national census in the country and is basically rehearsal to test the equipment and method to be used for the census.
Navy Captain, Charles Ogwa (Rtd), member representing Cross River State in the board of NPC disclosed this in Calabar while speaking on the commission’s readiness for the next census.
He said the President, Mohammadu Buhari charged the national population commission to work out a population and housing census for the country.
He emphasised that in line with this, the NPC is about 97% ready for the exercise as over 97% of the country has been covered in the Enumeration Area Demarcation Exercise being undertaken by the commission.
According to him, “What the commission has done is that, we have prepared both the budget, started the pre-census activities and we propose to hold the National Population and Housing Census in the second quarter of, 2022, subject to the approval of the president.
“We have started core activities towards holding this census in 2022 and started with enumeration area demarcation of all the 774 local government areas and today we are just doing mop up and in cross river they are in the field now.
“We have finished Erei in Biase, have gone to Abi at Ebijakara and have now moved on to Obubra and from there on to Yala.
“The second pre-test activity in the state which runs from December 3 to 10 will cover Akamkpa, Abi, Ikom and Obanliku”, he said.
Speaking on the benefits of the proposed census to the country, he said that with the questionnaire, lots of data will be generated which will help in the development of the country.
He added that the data being generated will be synchronised so that if you commit a crime, with the data we have in national population commission we can trace where you come from.
Right now, in the state if you commit a crime we can trace the household you come from, if you say you are from, Obudu we can just key into the system and know the household you are coming from.
He also disclosed that as part of the preparations, staff are being trained and will take the official Oath of Secrecy to ensure that data generated is not being abused or breached.
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.
