By Robinson Erebi
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Hon. Federal Commissioner in charge of the National Population Commission in Bayelsa State Mrs. Gloria Izonfuo, mni, has said that the National Population Commission is poised to deliver to the nation, the first digital Census in 2023.
Mrs. Izonfuo made this known during a press conference called to announce the formal opening of the E-recruitment Portal for the engagement of functionaries for the Population and Housing Census which is expected to the conducted in April 2023 after the general elections.
The Hon. Federal Commissioner emphasized that as a result of its commitment, all of the Commission’s processes are being driven by technology, stressing that the e-recruitment method would be used to engage Ad-Hoc staff for the 2023 Census.
She explained that interested applicants would register online on the National Population Commission e-recruitment portal http://2023censusadhocrecruitment.nationalpopulation.gov.ng. And that the e-registration could be done between the 31st of October, 2022 and the 28th of December, 2022.
“The e-recruitment portal would however be temporarily closed between the 7th and 13th of November, 2022 for audit and assessment, after which the portal would be re-opened”.
“Nationally, the National Population Commission would be engaging about 1.5 million functionaries for the Census; in Bayelsa State, over ten thousand functionaries would be needed. This number would be drawn from applicants across the eight Local Government Areas of the State and would be deployed to cover every locality in all the Local Government Areas of the State”.
“Positions that are open to applicants include Enumerators, Supervisors, Quality Assurance Officers, Data Quality Managers, Monitoring and Evaluation Officers, Training Centre Administrators, Field Coordinators and Facilitators”, she said.
Mrs. Gloria Izonfuo explained further that each of these positions has its requisite qualifying requirement, but across board, and to be eligible for registration, a candidate is required to be a Nigerian between the ages of 20 and 50 years having National Identification Number (NIN) and a functional phone number and email.
Candidates are also expected to be able to read and write in English with a minimum educational qualification of Senior School Certificate Examination and Information Communication Technology (ICT) compliant, have basic literacy in Mathematics and functional/operational Commercial Bank Account (No student/NYSC Account).
“I implore our young people across Bayelsa State who meet the above criteria to register online. Candidates are advised to fill the forms truthfully to avoid disqualification by the system. As much as possible, applicants should fill the forms by themselves so as to avoid falling prey to fraudsters. Candidates are further encouraged to register at, and indicate their usual places of residence so as to increase their chances of selection to work within their neighbourhood”.
“At the end of one’s e-registration process, the candidate would receive an SMS with his/her unique code/NPC number. This code should be saved as it would be used to check application status. Candidates who scale through the first online screening process would be invited for physical verification. Successful candidates would then be posted to training centres in their indicated Local Government Areas of residence”, she said.
Mrs. Izonfuo said further that as the National Population Commission is desirous of delivering a credible, reliable and acceptable Census that meets international standards, training of functionaries would be tailored towards the production of top-notch functionaries.
To this end, during training, trainees would be tested frequently online and the results of these tests would be used to select the final set of functionaries for the Census.
“The National Population Commission is determined to get 2023 right. This is why no effort has been spared in the bid to attract and recruit the very best functionaries for the 2023 Population and Housing Census. Various enlightenment campaigns were deployed to sensitize the people on the ongoing e-recruitment exercise. From the use of the traditional mass media, to the use of social media and villages criers and indeed to street and market sensitizations, the message of e-recruitment was taken to Bayelsans”, she stated.
The Hon. Federal Commissioner reiterated her appreciation for the support of stakeholders such as the Executive Governor of Bayelsa State, Sen. Douye Diri, Security Agencies, sister Federal Agencies, Local Government authorities, our revered Traditional Rulers, women groups, Community Development Committees, and youth groups.
“It gladdens my heart that so many persons and agencies understand the relevance of Census to national development. I hope and pray that as we approach the final stretch, we would continue to enjoy their support”.
“With the agenda setting function of the press, the mass media can help orient Bayelsans to support the Census process. As partners in national development, NPC counts on your collaborative partnership to sensitize the public to engender an acceptable, credible and reliable Census next year”, she stated.
