By ROTIMI IJIKANMI
ABUJA- The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed says the 2023 Population and Housing Census is a legacy programme and top priority for the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the 24th edition of the PMB Administration Scorecard Series organised to showcase the achievements of the government.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports a 29-member National Census Publicity Committee chaired by the minister was also inaugurated at the event.
Mohammed, who underscored the importance of census to national development, recalled that the country last held the exercise in 2006, about 17 years back.
He said the decision by the administration to conduct the census was borne out of the desire to bequeath an enduring legacy of evidence-based planning for sustainable development.
“Our population remains the most important equation in our national development.
“The people are both the agents and beneficiaries of the development process, hence development must start and end with meeting the aspirations of the people for improved living standards.
“The Buhari Administration had invested heavily in human capital development, social infrastructure and agricultural development, among others, all part of building Nigeria’s economic base.
“The conduct of the 2023 Population and Housing Census is therefore to complement the giant strides of government by laying a sustainable basis for a planned and
prosperous Nigeria,” he said.
Mohammed commended the efforts of the National Population Commission (NPC)to positively rewrite the history of census in the country through meticulous planning and massive deployment of technology at every stage of the national exercise.
He urged Nigerians to extend maximum cooperation to the commission in its bid to deliver accurate and reliable demographic data for planning purposes.
Inaugurating the national census publicity committee, the minister underscored the importance of sensitising Nigerians to the advantages of census and the need to make themselves available.
He assured the Chairman of NPC, Nasir Kwarra, that he would deploy all existing communication structures of his ministry in carrying out the assignment.
The minister said: ”For effective communication and sensitisation, the committee will be replicated at the States and Local Government levels.” (NAN)
