Compendium Of Localities For The 2023 Population And Housing Census

…NPC Akwa Ibom State Proves Readiness For 2023 Census

…State, LGC Ors Should Jettison Party Matters On This – CLO

By Saviour Ekpe

The National Population Commission, Akwa Ibom State has proven beyond doubt their readiness to conduct a reliable, credible and acceptable Population And Housing Census next year.

The demonstration, which attracted a wild ovation, was experimented with in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital during the interactive session at the workshop on Compendium Of Localities For The 2023 Population And Housing Census recently.

After presentations by different speakers of the state‘s locality list by the lead presenter and GIS Officer from the Headquarters Cartography Department of the NPC as well as the digital display of locality maps of the state, stakeholders raised concerns on issues bothering marginalization and some communities missing out by the risen of their size, lack of political inclusion and certain sentiments. Stakeholders were told that the activities of the NPC are without any political consideration as their responsibilities are geared towards delivering on their mandate, however, those communities’ names were searched for and found at a click of the button, the locality compendium of the NPC to the amazement of all stakeholders and in the affirmation that every community in the state is fully and consciously captures for the exercise.

Earlier in his keynote address, the Honourable Federal Commissioner, National Population Commission Akwa Ibom State, Chief (Engr.) Benedict Ukpong, FNSE (Okete Okete Oro) explained the main essence of the workshop, “the main objective of this State Level Workshop is to compile all the localities demarcated during the EAD on Local Government Area basis showing the coverage and location on interactive maps. It also seeks to build collaboration with the Commission and other Stakeholders in order to finalize and present to the ‘Grass Root’ the final list of Localities for the 2023 Population and Housing Census. The Compendium of Localities for a Census is a tool for Census data dissemination as well as for National Planning and Development. The year 2023 Population and Housing Census results will be released down to the lowest level of the Census entities which could be as small as a camp. The Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) exercise collected data on all Localities with a Locality defined as ‘a distinct Population cluster (also designated as inhabited place, populated centre, settlement and so forth) in which the inhabitants live in neighbouring sets of living quarters, has a name or a locally recognized status’. It is important to note that Wards, quarters or housing estates within a town or city were not regarded as a locality. It is also worthy of note that, ‘Fragmentation of Localities may hinder the rapid development of an LGA as a major developmental intervention programmes by Government/NGO work along with the path of Population. Also, more Localities do not translate to higher population for the LGA”.

The Federal Commissioner assured stakeholders that no stone has been left in the exercise as the entire state has been successfully demarcated and is ready for the exercise, “In Akwa Ibom State, the Commission has successfully demarcated all the Wards and Localities in the 31 LGAs. All the riverine and other hard-to-reach parts of the State including the Oil Platforms at Ibeno LGA were covered during the EAD exercise in the State. Let me state here that with the huge resources that the Country has expended on the EAD, we are happy that the National Population Commission has acquired a lot of data sets that will be useful for development at the National and sub national levels”.

In his welcome address, the State Director, National Population Commission, Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Emmanuel Edem reiterated the assurances that President Muhammadu Buhari has appended his approval for the 2023 Population And Housing Census hence, the efforts of the commission to meet up with the mandate, “the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR has graciously granted approval for the conduct of the next Population and Housing Census in the country in April 2023. It is in the light of this that the National Population Commission is working assiduously to ensure that all the machineries and manpower needed for the exercise are put in place for the successful conduct of the census in the country”.

He further buttressed the indispensability of the compendium to the 2023 Population And Housing Census, “the Compendium of Localities is an indispensable tool required for the conduct of an accurate, reliable and acceptable Population and Housing Census Therefore, this workshop will focus on technical presentations, holistic interactions with stakeholders and digital display of the recently concluded Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) deliverables with specific emphasis on Locality Types, Class, Coverage and Spatial Relationships within the State and Local Government Areas”.

In his goodwill message, the Chairman of Civil Liberties Organisation, Akwa Ibom State, Otuekong Franklyn Isong among other speakers called on the State Governor, Mr. Udom Gabriel Emmanuel, the Executive Chairmen of the 31 Local Government Areas in the state to jettison the issue of political party at this critical time and work for the actualization of the Population And Housing Census as according to him, transcends politics, political parties and dispensations. He pledged the full support of the Civil Liberties Organisation, Akwa Ibom State to the success of the 2023 Population And Housing Census in the state.