By Amos Aar
THE National Population Commission (NPC) has given assurances that everybody in Benue State will be counted in the forthcoming population and housing census in February 2023 and accurate demographic data will be captured for proper planning and development.
NPC National Chairman, Alhaji Nasir Isah Kwara, gave the assurance on Wednesday during a 3-day stakeholders summit organised by the commission in conjunction with the Benue State Government on the theme, “Getting the People Involved”, held at Government House, Makurdi to sensitise key actors on the forthcoming census.
Alhaji Kwara who appealed to the state government to sustain its support until the 2023 census is successfully conducted, called on Benue people to make themselves available to be counted.
He said the 2023 census will be digitalised to ensure that people are counted anywhere they reside in Nigeria so that nobody will miss out.
Responding, Governor Ortom said his administration was committed to providing the necessary support for the success of the exercise, noting that census is an important programme of government for policy formulation and implementation, urging Benue people not to politicise it.
“Posterity will not forgive us if they discover that we were here but we did not play our role well and that’s why they were short-changed in population census,” Ortom said.
He cautioned youths against resorting to lawlessness even if they are not satisfied with things in the course of the forthcoming census but rather channel their complaints to appropriate authorities like the NPC, local government councils, state executive council and traditional rulers.
In their separate goodwill messages, the Tor Tiv, HRM Prof. James Ayatse, who is the chairman of Benue Traditional Council, and the Och’Idoma, HRM Chief John Elaigwu Odogbo, said the traditional institution was fully carried along in the preparation for the 2023 census and assured of accurate census using technology that has never been witnessed before.
They promised to make themselves available to be counted and to convince their subjects to also submit themselves to be counted having known the relevance of population census.
Earlier, NPC Federal Commissioner representing Benue State, Barr Mrs Patricia Kupchi, who briefed Governor Ortom on the preparedness of the NPC for 2023 census and the activities carried out so far for the exercise said, the essence of the summit was to get everybody involved in the census process so that they can together “produce accurate, reliable and acceptable census data”.
“Not one inch of Benue state will be left uncounted”, Kupchi assured.
