July 11, (THEWILL) – The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, has inaugurated a 25-member National Census Security and Logistic Committee.
The committee members are drawn from the military, paramilitary, police force, relevant ministries, unions and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Inaugurating the committee in Abuja, on Wednesday, Ribadu stressed the need for accurate and reliable demographic data for policy formulation and planning, and sustainable development.
“It is in the light of this and the desire to bequeath an enduring legacy of evidence-based planning for sustainable development that the conduct of the Population and Housing Census is of topmost priority to the administration of President Bola Tinubu. The setting up of this committee and its inauguration at this point in time is therefore a necessary step toward ensuring peaceful and smooth conduct of the census,” he said.
Ribadu also said that the scope of the census is enormous, adding that “safeguarding the personnel and materials, as well as smooth channelling of same is imperative to the overall success of the exercise.
“The planning and conduct of a gigantic programme such as the census will no doubt come with its challenges in terms of security and logistics arrangement.
“Potential areas of threats to the census include physical attacks on National Population Commission (NPC) staff and facilities, attacks on security personnel on census duty, kidnapping, inter/intra communal violence disrupting preparatory and main census work.”
Others are attacks targeting NPC databases and ICT architecture, intimidation of members of the public to dissuade them from participating in the process and snatching and destruction of census materials.
“Most prominent is the issue of insecurity arising from banditry, kidnapping, armed conflicts, terrorism, insurgency and other violent crimes which pose major challenges to the census.
“It is expected that with coordinated synergy by the committee, safe movement of personnel and materials before, during and after the census will be guaranteed.
“This is because we have the confidence that with the calibre of members of this committee, this national assignment will be carried out successfully,” he said, adding that the committee would be replicated in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory as well as the 774 local government areas of the country.
