From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Ahead of the April 2023 national headcount by the National Population Commission, Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma has appealed to all citizens of the State to make themselves available to be counted.
He has also appealed to the National Population Commission to ensure that the integrity and proficiency of the technology to be deployed for the exercise is accurate and reliable.
Governor Uzodimma stated this while flagging off a Stakeholders Summit on the 2023 Population and Housing Census in Owerri on Wednesday, September 28 2022.
He bemoaned a situation where citizens see census as “a mere collection of data and the number of human beings and sometimes houses,” emphasising that “National Census includes the collection of demographic, social and economic data which the government uses to formulate economic policies.”
He said “The data generated serve as a useful guide in the distribution of social amenities and infrastructural projects. In other words, population census is at the heart of the planning for the future by government based on the figure obtained during the census exercise.”
“A properly conducted population census, therefore, saves the government from planning blindly.”
The Governor further said that “the importance of National Census cannot be over emphasized because it helps in planning for the health, demography, social welfare, infrastructure and general sustainability of the society, it serves as a road map towards the orderly planning and implementation of government policies and programmes.”
“For us to come out from complaints of marginalization, low revenue income, and social amenities we must participate effectively in the upcoming population census.”
“A reliable census figure will guide the government in policy making and economic planning. When we know the exact number of youths in the State and what percentage of them are unemployed it will help the government in designing more effective youth empowerment programmes.”
The Governor therefore directed the Sole Administrators of the LGAs, the Town Union Presidents and their Traditional Rulers and all Leaders in the State to take up the challenge of sensitizing the people and the need to participate in this all important exercise.
Earlier in his address,the Federal Commissioner National Population Commission Imo State, Prof. Uba Nnabue said that the goal of the State Stakeholders summit is to broaden state level support base for the successful conduct of the 2023 census.