The National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, has inaugurated a 25-member National Census Security and Logistic Committee for the conduct of the next Population and Housing Census in the country.
The committee members are made up of military, paramilitary, police force, relevant ministries, union representatives and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
He performed the inauguration in Abuja late Wednesday evening, stressing the need for accurate and reliable demographic data for policy formulation and planning, and for sustainable development.
He said “it is in the light of this and the desire to bequeath an enduring legacy of evidence-based planning for sustainable development that the conduct of the Population and Housing Census is of topmost priority to the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
“The setting up of this committee and its inauguration at this point in time is therefore a necessary step toward ensuring peaceful and smooth conduct of the census.”
Ribadu also said the scope of the census is enormous, adding that “safeguarding the personnel and materials, as well as smooth channeling of same is imperative to the overall success of the exercise.”
He said the committee must be conscious of several risks factors that might affect successful conduct of the census, adding that “the planning and conduct of a gigantic programme such as the census will no doubt come with its challenges in terms of security and logistics arrangement.
“Potential areas of threats to the census include physical attacks on National Population Commission (NPC) staff and facilities, attacks on security personnel on census duty, kidnapping, inter/intra communal violence disrupting preparatory and main census work.”
Others, according to him, are attacks targeting NPC databases and ICT architecture, intimidation of members of the public to dissuade them from participating in the process, snatching and destruction of census materials.
“Most prominent is the issue of insecurity arising from banditry, kidnapping, armed conflicts, terrorism, insurgency and other violent crimes which pose major challenges to the census.”
He, however, said that though the task before the committee is huge, the Federal Government had put in serious efforts to ensure the safety of Nigerians.
“It is expected that with coordinated synergy by the committee, safe movement of personnel and materials before, during and after the census will be guaranteed.
“This is because we have the confidence that with the calibre of members of this committee, this national assignment will be carried out successfully,” he said.
He also disclosed that the committee would be replicated in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory and in the 774 local government areas of the country.
