“Drills between March/April”
The National Population Commission (NPC) assured Nigerians yesterday that it will deploy cutting-edge technology available to avoid manipulation during the 2023 census.
The chairman of the committee, Nasir Isa Kwarra, made the assurance when he spoke to journalists after meeting President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja, and he also announced that the deployment of Advanced technology will make it difficult for anyone to manipulate the process.
Responding to a question, Kwarra said the exercise would be different from previous exercises, which he said had been marred by controversy, and stressed that the committee would utilize cutting-edge technology, including Global Positioning System (GPS) and satellite imagery.
According to him, every building in the country has been coded for this purpose.
“This census will be different from previous censuses. The theory and practice are essentially the same, but we are using high-end technology to conduct this census, and no one can tamper with any numbers. No one will be counted more than once .
“We’re going to the homes to have a direct interaction with the households, to collect data, and in the past, if you did it manually, it would be very cumbersome. But this is done with the help of technology, and I believe it will be transparent, very Fast and it will be verifiable because we are able to provide data to local governments down to the ward level. So, it’s something you can always verify,” he said.
Kwara said that the delineation of the enumeration areas has been completed and further noted that the exercise will be conducted between late March and early April this year, specifically from March 29 to April 2, 2023.
“By March 29 through April 2, our workers will be on-site to conduct the census,” he noted. He disclosed that the committee has opened a portal to recruit temporary staff for the exercise, adding that the recruits will be deployed to work locally.
Against the backdrop of security challenges in parts of the country, he assured that the drills would go smoothly in the affected areas.