The Executive Chairman of National Population Commission Hon. Nasir Isa Kwarra has said that the bloggers and Social Media Influencers have a critical role to play in sensitizing Nigerians on the Commission’s journey towards the 2023 Population and Housing Census.
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Hon. Kwarra made this known while addressing participants at a 1-day interactive workshop for Bloggers and Social Media Influencers organised by the Commission in collaboration with National Orientation Agency (NOA) in preparation for the forthcoming Census.
The Chairman explained that for a people-oriented organization such as the National Population Commission, constant and effective engagement with the media is a crucial first step it must take in the attainment of its constitutional mandate of generating data for national planning.
“The estimation that over 60% of Nigeria’s population is under 30 and a good part of this under-16 demographic has never been captured in a census exercise. Moreover, that demographic constitutes the greater part of Nigerian citizens who are active internet and social media users”.
According to Hon. Nasir Kwarra, the workshop which objective is to heighten awareness among Nigerian bloggers/social media influencers on the importance of the 2023 Census, is also aimed at helping them to appreciate the important roles they could play in mobilizing the youth population to participate in the census.
“This bloggers and social media influencers’ conference is proposed on the premise that the buy-in of such strategic persons would manifest in their promotion of the census on their various platforms and ultimately translate into massive youth participation in the census”.
“Census is a national event and is the responsibility of every citizen to participate by presenting themselves to be counted. The Commission will no doubt, need the support of all stakeholders to deliver to the country a credible and reliable data it can use for sustainable development planning”.
“To us in the Commission, the bloggers and Social media influencers are critical partners in the journey towards sensitizing Nigerians on the 2023 Census. Over the years, the Commission has invested considerable time and resources planning for the census by drawing from its rich institutional experience spanning two censuses and a pool of tested professionals to give the nation a truly digital and scientific census that will generate data for planning within the context of our present realities”, he said.
The Executive Chairman who was represented at the occasion by his Special Assistant Alhaji Isiyaku Husseini told the participants that the National Population Commission has made significant progress in preparation for the Census.
“We have successfully completed Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD), conducted two pre-tests and Trial census, trained facilitators for the census and other preparatory activities are presently going as we speak. These efforts have laid the groundwork to ensure that the census succeeds and is implemented according to best practices”.
“Our vision of the 2023 census is to produce accurate, reliable and acceptable census with an all inclusive user-friendly data. These activities are being implemented along with extensive stakeholders’ engagement and consultations as well as media campaign to forge broad national acceptance and consensus for the 2023 census”, he said.
While the outcomes of these preparatory activities are re-assuring, the Chairman Hon. Nasir Isa Kwarra emphasized that the Commission is on course in its mission of delivering an accurate census, a strategic partnership with the media, especially the bloggers/Social media influencers who are expected to form the tripod upon which the census architecture will stand to reach-out to the Nigerian people.
He also stressed that the convening of this interactive workshop for the Bloggers and Social media influencers is one of such engagements and it underscores the determination and commitment of the Commission to conduct a successful Population and Housing Census in 2023 by them to effectively mobilize the citizenry to participate in the forthcoming census.
By partnering with bloggers and social media influencers, the Commission can leverage their influence to increase awareness and participation in the 202 Population and Hosing Census as Hon. Kwarra Isa Kwarra said “getting the 2023 Population and Housing Census right is a task that must be done and the Commission is committed to ensuring that everything about the census is done rightly and professionally”.
