By Tosin Ayinde
The National Population Commission (NPC) has advised Nigerians against traveling to their home states in view of the forthcoming population and housing census.
The Commission assured Nigerians that it had put in place measures to guard against all forms of malpractices ahead of the head count. It also stressed that citizens living away from their states of origin do not need to travel home for the purpose of this exercise, stating that people would be enumerated at their places of residence.
Isiaka Yahaya, NPC spokesperson, in an interview on Monday, said: “People should stay where they are, to be counted. They are not to move to their states of origin. It is totally against the essence of the census. You have to be counted where you reside because that’s where you enjoy the social facilities like education and health, among others.” He explained that apart from this, when the time comes for people to be provided with infrastructure and other services, that any undue relocation at this material time, will not allow the planners to have accurate figures.
The NPC spokesman, on measures to check malpractices, said the exercise is a de facto census as the Commission will merely be asking practical questions about those who are living, not those who are yet to be born. “We have not trained our enumerator to count people who are not yet born. We have a system in place to guard against all the malpractices that we have envisaged,” Yahaya added.
The NPC spokesperson who disclosed that the Commission is yet to finish the recruitment process for enumerators, reiterated that people can only be counted in their places of residence to discourage human movement after head count may have been carried out. He affirmed that people can only be counted in one place, stating that there is nothing to lie about as well-trained enumerators would evaluate whatever was availed to them.
