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Obasanjo: No Hidden Agenda

Posted by From Onyebuchi Ezigbo, Juliana Taiwo in Abuja and Wale Olaleye in Lagos on 2006/03/21 | Views: 603 |

Obasanjo: No Hidden Agenda


President Olusegun Oba-sanjo yesterday assured Nigerians that his administration has no hidden agenda in the 2006 census exercise which commences today, saying it would be to the benefit of all citizens.

Census only in residences • Uproar over Lagos' one week holiday

President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday assured Nigerians that his administration has no hidden agenda in the 2006 census exercise which commences today, saying it would be to the benefit of all citizens.

His assurances came as the National Population Com-mission (NPC) Chairman, Chief Samu'ila Danko Makama, declared that enumerators would only visit buildings designated as residences and not those designated as offices, shops or plaza.

But the controversial decision of the Lagos State government to restrict movement of people for three days, beginning from today through Thursday has continued to elicit condemnation by many stakeholders who feel that keeping people home for one whole week is counterproductive and unnecessary.

In his national broadcast last night to seek the cooperation of all Nigerians in the census exercise, Obasanjo said "the outcome of a successful census is indispensable to the nation's quest for sustainable development."

In spite of the benefits of census data as a veritable tool for socio-economic planning, acco-rding to Obasanjo, "Nigeria has not been able to sustain the conduct of census at required regular intervals. Nigeria is regarded as the 'Giant of Africa' partly because of its population; unfortunately, the exact number of the people of this great nation has remained a subject of speculation.

In the past, there had been lack of public confidence in the census process to the extent that census taking had become a contest for inter group supremacy. Today, education, technology and transparency should enhance confidence and faith."

According to the President, "without an adequate census, you cannot plan well, deploy resources justly, and you cannot provide additional support for people and communities with special needs."

He assured Nigerians that preparations for the exercise were foolproof because "the Commission designed a methodology that would ensure a free, fair, reliable and credible census. The methodology incorporated new techniques and the most modern technology for conducting censuses.

"In this regard a major innovation of the 2006 Census is the inclusion of housing questions. Apart from deflecting from the overriding perception of census as a tool for sharing national resources, housing questions reveal true living conditions and provide veritable indices to plan for improved conditions for the people.

"For the first time in the conduct of census in Nigeria, the 2006 Census has employed such technology as the use of Geographical Positioning System (GPS) and Satellite imageries to carve out geo-referenced Enumeration Area maps.
"Consequently, for the first time, it would be possible to verify the exact location of buildings and persons as enumerated during the census. Also for the first time, OMR/ICR/OCR machine readable forms are being used as census instruments to record information," he said.

On the movement of people, Obasanjo enjoined all Nigerians "to stay where they are normally resident during the census, and not to travel to any other place. Census migration is a negative trend that distorts the usefulness of census data for planning purposes, as it does not allow proper planning for people in their usual place of residence. The police and road safety officials have been instructed to discourage large scale movement of people during the census."

"I wish to stress once again that census taking is not politics and should therefore not be a contest for political supremacy. Indeed the result of this census will first and foremost be used for socio-economic planning in the short term. People must therefore desist from misrepresenting the purposes of the exercise for their own selfish interests. We are not helping our communities and people by misrepresentations and unpatriotic acts," the President said.

In his own statement, NPC Chairman, Chief Samu'ila Danko Makama, said enumerators would only visit buildings designated as residences and not those designated as offices, shops or plaza.

Accordingly, he said no inter-state or inter-locality movement would be allowed on Friday and Saturday, the last two days of the census exercise, so as to facilitate enumeration, particularly of those who leave their homes very early in the morning or return very late in the night.

Clarifying the federal government's position on the issue, Makama said the plan to restrict movement of people for the two days rather than declare out-right public holiday for the duration of the census was to avoid migration which is capable of distorting the essence and purpose of the exercise.

In addition, Makama said the economic cost and inconveniences associated with long public holidays for the entire five days of census is totally unhealthy for national development and stability.

Speaking on the modalities for carrying out the enumeration, the NPC chairman said enumerators could only visit residential building and not building designated as offices, shops or plaza.

He, however, said enumeration would take place in educational facilities with boarding arrangements and as such students in boarding schools will count in their hostels including university students in halls of residence, hostels or hotels.

Explaining the census arrangement, the NPC boss noted there was no iota of truth in the complaints and allegation that adequate arrangements and materials have not been put in place, saying the commission has done all it could to ensure a successful headcount.

Commenting on the number of enumeration teams allocated to each state, he said these were not necessarily based on the number of enumeration areas, adding that one enumerator team will most likely count more than one enumeration areas depending on various factors such as population size, terrain and accessibility.

The chairman also debu-nked allegations of inadequate supply of materials stating that the main materials which is NP01 and other ancillary forms have long been made available to the state offices of the commission with additional forms stationed at the headquarters in case of any shortage.

In a related development, a Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday struck out the suit filed by nine councils in Kogi State requesting that the 2006 census should not be carried out in their territory.
Justice Anwuli Chikere dismissed the matter following the plaintiffs' application that they want the matter discontinued.

Counsel to the plaintiffs, Mr. Adown Abdul who made the disclosure said his clients have expressed satisfaction with the administrative moves by the National Population Commission (NPC) to meet their dem-ands.
Rosaline Tasha representing the NPC did not raise any objection to the application as the court struck out the case.

The aggrieved local governments: Ankpa, Bassa, Dekina, Ibaji, Idah, Iga-lamela/ Oduru, Ofu, Ola-maboro, Omala, their chairmen in conjunction with the Igala Cultural and Devel-opment Association (ICDA sued NPC and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF ) seeking an order stopping any census premised on NPC's Enum-eration Area Demarcation (EAD) exercise carried out in Kogi state last year.

The plaintiffs argument was that the NPC imposed an arbitrary EAD on them and sought an order stopping the headcount.

But the NPC objected to the suit and asked the court to throw it out for lack of merit. NPC denied imposing any fictitious EAD on the plaintiffs on the ground that the projection it used to right size the areas was the same in other parts of the country and never particular to the plaintiffs.
In a swift response to requests for clarification over the conduct of the census, the Lagos State Government had yesterday reiterated its determination to enforce the stay at home order between 8am and 4pm in the State towards the success of the national census.

The Lagos State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has, however, described as counter-productive, the stay-at-home order issued by the Lagos State Government for the duration of the national head count commencing from today.

A statement by Mr. Muyiwa Collins, National Deputy Publicity Secretary, South, the PDP said it was sad to note that the state government could give a contrary order when it has been decided that a two-day holiday would be enough for the exercise, more so that Lagos is the economic nerve centre of the country.

"Lagos is a cosmopolitan city, the commercial nerve centre of the country and the microcosm of the country. This order is simply uncalled for and we want to state clearly that the PDP is against it and would not allow it stand. Lagosians should go about their businesses only to observe the holidays called out for Friday and Saturday", Collins stated.

According to the PDP, the order cannot work because it is not only an affront on the federal government, but a move that is counter-productive as the people of Lagos cannot be home for a period of five days all in the name of census, especially that government would not provide for their needs within the period.

"How can the governor give such order; that the people should stay at home for five days in Lagos, of all states? It is outrightly impossible. The meaning we can read to this is that the state government has chosen to confront the federal government in a battle that is very unnecessary. We advise that the state government should rescind this order in its interest," Collins said.

The Lagos State Comm-issioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Dele Alake, said yesterday that staff of companies, agencies on non-essential operations should stay at home and be counted, adding that the State would not only enforce the stay at home order but would also take punitive action against all those residents in the state who migrate to be counted elsewhere.
He warned that such 'emigrants' would be treated like saboteurs and would be made to face the full effect of the law.

According to Alake, only people on essential duties would be allowed to move about during the days of the census after properly identifying themselves to security agents

Alake reiterated that independent monitors have been put in place to report employers who force their employees to come to work in contravention of the stay at home order.

He said this is because complaints have reached the State that some employers are already threatening em-ployees against obeying the stay at home order.
He advised people who live in the border towns near Lagos but who work and enjoy the social services provided by the State to find a means of getting themselves registered in Lagos.

Commenting on the disruptions which took place at enumeration centers at the weekend, Alake clarified that it was caused by unregistered enumerators who infiltrated those recognised by the NPC with the hope of getting temporary employment.

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