Seventeen years after the last national census (2006), Nigeria is set to conduct a fresh green census.
Green census, an approach to conducting census that causes little or no damage to the environment, is said to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help fight climate change.
The enumeration exercise, which is slated to hold between March 29 and April 2 in the 774 local government areas of the country, will fetch a total of N869 billion.
But according to Nigeria’s Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clamp Colorthe government has only committed about a quarter of the amount.
population of Nigeria
The population of Nigeria is estimated at 216 million according to the population agency of the United Nations, UNFPA and according to statistical projections, if the country continues in the current direction, there will be an increase of 100 percent of the population in 2050, which is 400 million people.
Speaking at a high-level engagement of partners in Abuja on Monday, Mr. Agba said the census would be conducted in partnership with various development partners including UNFPA, and the EU, among others.
funding
The minister noted that a total of N869 billion ($1.88 billion) will be required for the exercise, including post-census activities; N626 billion ($1.36 billion) for the $6 per capita census and N243 billion ($527 million) for post-census activities up to 2025.
Mr. Agba noted that the government has committed N291.5 billion ($632 million) which represents 46 percent of the total funds required for the exercise.
Therefore, he invited various development partners including network providers to support the government with funds.
UNFPA, he said, is providing significant technical and financial support and will also manage a basket of funds established to redeem pledges.
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According to Mr. Agba, 885,000 people will be trained to conduct the dual-purpose census; population and housing. The training of these people, the minister said, would take place before the census but did not give an exact date.
He said that 773 local governments have been restricted except for Abadam Local Government Area in Borno State, where he noted that residents cannot receive the personnel.
He said the government has adopted a hybrid enumeration strategy.
Other areas with similar challenges include, the minister said, Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State and other areas in Zamfara State.
However, the census planning committee ensured that the security and logistics committee had everything they needed to deal with the situation.
The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, also noted that digital technology will be deployed for reliable, trustworthy and acceptable results, adding that the census allows the government to accurately capture changes in the population, age structure or population movement for public harmony. policy, and also for investment decisions.
For this year’s census, he noted that people will not be asked about ethnicity and religion because of their sensitive nature.
“Including ethnicity and religion in the census will create tension and controversy that will divert attention from the relevance of the census data for national planning. It is wise to leave these items to keep the census from controversy and the risk of rejection by certain parts of the country,” explained the National Population Commission (NPC).
“We must stand together to figure out how to take this to the goal. Otherwise, the world will fail to deliver the SDGs. It is not only about Nigeria’s influence in Africa, but also about Nigeria’s global influence as the third most populous country in the world, 25 years from now ,” said Ulla Mueller, UNFPA’s national representative in Nigeria, while calling on all stakeholders to support them. exercise.
He added that the world cannot deliver the SDGs “if we do not deliver the census in Nigeria; So if you contribute to the census in Nigeria, you are also contributing to the global promise to achieve and produce sustainable development.
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