The National Population Commission (NPC) has reassured Nigerians that the 2023 National Census would be credible, reliable and accurate.
This was disclosed by the commission’s Chairman, Mr Nasir Kwarra during a press conference in Calabar on Tuesday.
Represented by Dr. Eyitayo Oyetunji, Chairman, Public Affairs Committee of the Commission, Kwarra noted that presently, Nigeria was the sixth most populous nation in the world.
The chairman said that by 2050, Nigeria would be the third most populous country in the globe going by her growth rate.
According to him, this is very significant, therefore, the next census is not just important to us in Nigeria for planning but has international relevance.
“The world wants to know whether Nigeria is set to become the third most populous country in the world.
“You hear that Nigeria has the biggest market in Africa and so, whatever happens to its population is of interest to any serious minded businessman and international organisations,” he said.
Kwarra said that was why it used the 2022 Calabar Carnival as a platform to sensitize Nigerians on the importance of the census.
He said the commission had planned the 2023 census activities in such a way that it would not get entangled in the political process, had no political undertones but purely for data collection for national planning.
While calling on the media to publicize the activities of the commission towards having a credible census, he said the 2023 enumeration exercise would be the first in Africa where every participant would be geographic defined.
Similarly, Navy Captain Charles Ogwa rtd, NPC Federal Commissioner for Cross River said the carnival was the biggest and most flamboyant street party in Sub-Saharan Africa with about 2,000,000 live viewers.
Ogwa said because of this huge viewership, the NPC in its strides to sensitize Nigerians about the census had decided to partake in the 2022 Calabar Carnival.
He said the main objective of the commission was to strategically reach a large number of people within and outside Nigeria.
“At the level we are now, we have successfully demarcated Nigeria with the use of high technological methodologies.
”We have also conducted pretests and trial census in the six geopolitical zones and it was successful.
“We are also ensuring that our staff are properly recruited and trained to have a 100 per cent quality man power,” he added.
The Calabar Carnival street party would be held on Wednesday, Dec. 28 along the 12 kilometers carnival route with different bands on parade.