Tunde Shosanya
The National Population Commission(NPC) has cleared air on how N200billion was expended on its preparatory activities for the conduct of the postponed 2023 Population and Housing Census.
Speaking at a media briefing on Friday in Abuja, Dr. Isiaka Yahaya,Director, Public Affairs in NPC, justified the amount already spent in the preparations for the conduct of the census.
He explained that the said N200billion spanned for a long period of time when the preparations for the Census started in 2014.
Yahaya explained that the funds released were deployed in various activities with resounding results.
He said: “It has therefore become necessary to set the records straight and put into proper context the expenditure of 200 Billion Naira by the National Population Commission in preparation for the 2023 Census.
“In a country struggling with acute infrastructural deficit, this massive undertaking can not come cheap but at a huge cost. Yes, it is true that N200 billion has been spent on preparations for the 2023 Census so far.
“However, this fund was not expended in the last few weeks, months or years but rather since 2014 when preparations for the 2023 Census actually began.
“Indeed, part of the N200 billion was expended before the coming of the present Commission, which was inaugurated twice between 2018 and 2020 and even before the inception of the Buhari administration.”
Speaking on the activities that have been carried out by the Commission in preparation for the Census, the Director of Public Affairs, said “The first preparatory activity for the 2023 Population and Housing Census was the Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) which the commission implemented in phases on an incremental basis spanning over a period of 8 years.
He added:”The EAD involved the division of the 774 Local Government Areas of the country into Enumeration Areas. The Enumeration Area Demarcation was done digitally from 2014 to 2022.
“Given the size of Nigeria, carrying out such expansive field operations must of necessity come with a huge cost. Major cost elements in the EAD project include the acquisition of high-resolution satellite imageries of entire land space of Nigeria and equipment, deployment of logistics across the country and training and deployment of tens of thousands of ad-hoc workers for several months to carry out the field operations. All of these were paid for, and heavily too.
“Another major cost element of the 2023 Census is the series of test runs carried out by the Commission to determine the appropriateness or otherwise of the methodology, processes and systems being put in place for the exercise.
“The Commission carried out an elaborate consultative process in designing a census questionnaire that responded to the country’s data needs for sustainable development.Series of workshops involving the academia, professional bodies, Civil Society Organizations and stakeholders were organized at the national and state levels between 2015 and 2017.
“The first Pretest was conducted between 31st May, 2021 and 13th June, 2021 in the thirty-six states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory while the second Pretest with larger coverage and broader objectives was conducted from November 24th to December 10th 2021 also in the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“These test runs cost huge amount of money in terms of training, deployment of personnel, and procurement of equipment and software.
“The Commission conducted a Trial Census in July 2022. The Trial Census was a dress rehearsal of the main census and was conducted to assess the overall preparedness for the conduct of the 2023 Census and it took place in all the 36 states of the federation and the FCT with over 13,000 personnel trained, deployed and paid allowances for the training and fieldwork for about one month.
“In addition to the procurement of computers, laptops, desktops, printers and solar power system for the census, the Commission developed numerous softwares not only for census operations but also to manage its processes.
“The software procured for the census include Censuspad and CSentry for data collection, Azure Cloud Infrastructure for managing data storage, security and processing and Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) geospatial data for integration, analysis and utilization. In recognition of its work in the 2023 Census EAD, the Commission received the Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) award at the 2022 Users Conference of ESRI held at its headquarters, California, United States. ESRI is the World Leading Developer of GIS Software.
“Other software acquired include Enumeration Dashboard for monitoring of data quality and coverage Geo spatial dashboard, recruitment portal, logistics management information system and Mobile Device Monitoring System. The most significant hardware for the 2023 Census is the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or tablets to be used for data collection and transmission during the census.
“The Commission procured a total of 810,000 for the 2023 Census. Given this huge number, the item was procured in phases and a significant proportion of these mini-computers have been procured, configured, and now stored in all the Central Bank Offices across the country.
“For a census project that has been described next to war in terms of mobilisation of human and material resource, movement of personnel across the length and breadth of the country will definitely constitute a major cost element.
“The Commission procured vehicles, motorcycles and boats for the movement of personnel and equipment across the length and breadth of the country. This was done along with renovation and equipping of all the 37 states and 774 Local Government offices for effective operational activities and storage for the 2023 Census.
“Conducting a digital census requires constant supply of electricity not only in the cities but also in the hinterland and hard to reach areas of the country for charging of PDAs and other equipment. Given the epileptic nature of power supply across the country, the Commission procured generators, power banks and install solar power system across the country.
“The Commission had trained about 62,000 facilitators across the country who will in turn train about 850,000 Supervisors and enumerators for the census exercise.
“The cost element in the census trainings include payment of training allowances of not less than N12,000 per day to each facilitator for two weeks, transport allowance, hiring of venues, refreshment, procurement of materials and logistics for field operations.
“In readiness for the training of the supervisors and enumerators, the Commission had printed over one million copies training manuals for various categories of field staff with paginations ranging from 150 to 300.
“In addition, all the materials required for the fieldwork for the 2023 Census such as reflective jackets, raincoats, rain-boots, biros, chalks, indelible inks, first aid boxes, memo pads, call back cards and pelican boxes have been procured in millions and delivered to all the state and LGA offices of the Commission across the country.
“The Commission has funded the Census Publicity Committees at national and state levels to carry out grassroots sensitisation.Working with the National Orientation Agency (NOA), the Commission had organized the 2023 Census Roadshows and grassroots sensitization in Abuja and all the state capitals.
“Publicity materials have been produced and disseminated in English and local languages while radio and television jingles and documentaries have been produced and broadcast on major networks.”
