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It is a known fact that census is an important
exercise. Its relevance to socio-economic
development cannot be over-emphasized. No
country can make any tangible progress
without reliable and accurate census figure.

For planning, census figure is paramount.
Population is dynamic and with the inter-play
of mortality and fertility, population of an
area will witness either an increase or
decrease. So it becomes imperative to
conduct census regularly.

The recommendation of United Nations is
that census is better conducted every 10
years; that is, decennia. With this, it will be
easy to monitor the population and have a
good grasp of the changes that have taken
place in the population over a period of 10
years. This knowledge will assist the policy
makers and the nation tremendously. For
instance, in budgeting, government will know
what to allocate to various sectors; the
housing needs can be easily estimated; there
will be adequate plan for health, education,
infrastructural needs of populace. So a
country with regular population enumeration
will certainly have knowledge of its
population dynamics and planning for the
nation will not be an issue.

Ironically, in Nigeria, census has not been
regular. Historically, Nigeria experienced
what can be called census in 1893 when the
headcount of Colony of Lagos took place. In
1871, another headcount took place in the
Colony of Lagos. This exercise continued
unabated every 10 years until 1911 when the
country had its national headcount which put
the population at 16.1 million. The 1921
national census put the population at 18.7
million.
There were other censuses in 1931, 1952-3,
1962-3, 1973, 1991 and 2006. These dates
clearly show that census has never been
regular in Nigeria. Attempts were made by
colonial masters to make it regular but
immediately after independence the exercise
became irregular. After 1991 census, Nigeria
waited for 15 years in 2006 before another
one could take place. Since 2006, series of
events have taken place; there have been
changes in demographic component –

fertility, mortality and even migration across
the six geo-political zones. It is therefore
necessary to know the current population of
the country rather than relying on
projections or rough estimates which in most
cases are far from realities.

The last census conducted in Nigeria was in
2006 indicating that another one should have
been held in 2016 following the United
Nations recommendation. We are now
approaching the end of what should have
been census year, that is 2016, but
unfortunately, nothing is happening. Even
though National Population Commission
(NPC) recently carried out demarcation of
enumeration areas and going by our little
knowledge of NPC’s activities, the
Commission is almost ready with the
schedule that will be used, but the readiness
and commitment of government cannot be
ascertained. In spite of the recent
proclamation of National Assembly towards
the conduct of another census in 2018, there
is nothing on ground to show that
government is yet committed or being on the
same page with National Population
Commission. The Proclamation by Senate to
have another census in 2018 is still waiting
for the ascent of the President. Again, the
international agencies that morally and
financially supported the National Population
Commission during the 2006 national
headcount is yet to show any interest in the
forthcoming national headcount. What this
portends is that the decennial rule has failed
and nobody is sure of when the next census
will take place in Nigeria.

Census is not a simple exercise and it
requires a lot of activities and planning.
There is need for demarcation of
enumeration area, which good enough has
been completed by the Commission; there is
need to have a very good census
questionnaire that will be acceptable to all
and sundry and there is publicity aspect that
should be carefully handled by professionals.
Apart from the above, there is a lot of
training that should be done for all those that
will be involved in one way or the otherv
among various other activities. The logistic
and some other activities have to be planned.
For the exercise, a lot of fund will be needed.
The country was lucky during the 2006 census
to have received support and financial
assistance from international agencies.
However, this time around, it seems as if the
agencies are not willing to be involved in the
conduct of the forthcoming census in Nigeria.
Maybe, these agencies are waiting for
Nigerian government’s reaction and/or
commitment towards the exercise for them
to decide on what will be their level of
involvement in population enumeration. This
is the more reason why President’s ascent to
the Senate proclamation is necessary now
and other necessary actions should
immediately follow.

However, from all indications, it seems
census is not considered one of the priorities
of the Nigerian government. For instance,
there was no provision for census in the 2016
national budget and one is not sure if it is
given any serious consideration in the 2017
budget. Hence, it has been difficult for the
National Population Commission to say
categorically when the next census will take
place. Initially, the Commission was
optimistic and hopefully believed that then
next census would come up in 2016. When
this was no longer feasible due to lack of
commitment from Nigerian Government and
based on the attitude of all international
agencies that supported the commission in
the previous exercise, the hope shifted to
year 2017. Now based on the
recommendation of National Assembly, the
exercise will take place in 2018. But if the
exercise will be for the year 2018, one should
be seeing the sign now; the horizon is not
clear enough for anybody to see what
government is doing towards having a
credible census in 2018 as recommended by
National Assembly. It takes nothing less than
one year to plan for a census that will worth
its salt for a country as huge as Nigeria.
Census is not a simple exercise.

If Nigeria would not conduct its national
headcount in 2016 and 2017 then when will
the next census come up or for how long will
the country wait before another census is
conducted. In Nigeria, much emphasis is
placed on politics forgetting the invaluable
role of population figures even for political
activities. Census is very important; without
accurate census, governments at various
levels will continue to base their plans on
estimated or projected figures. This is one of
the reasons why Nigeria as a nation has not
been able to make any tangible progress in all
ramifications. Unfortunately, this year 2016 is
already gone and census can no longer hold
in 2017. The basic question then is when
would the next census be conducted in
Nigeria?

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president plans on doing DAT in 2018. preparations to start ds yr

lol that's where you see a failed nation .....statistics is used to plan for the future

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