BY DAVID ADUGE-ANI, ABUJA
The Federal Government has inaugurated a 25-member security and logistics committee for the conduct of the 2024 national population and housing census in the country.
The committee is expected to safeguard the personnel and materials, as well as the smooth channelling of same for the overall success of the census exercise.
Inaugurating the committee in Abuja on Wednesday, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, said the setting up of this committee and its inauguration at this point in time is a necessary first step towards ensuring the peaceful and smooth conduct
of the Census.
Ribadu, who is the chairman of the committee, added that the National Population Commission is now ready to conduct the first fully
digital census that would give the nation credible, reliable and trustworthy data, which
would serve as basis for driving government planning for infrastructure, security,
budget allocations and development intervention agendas.
He explained that the task before the committee is huge, noting that Nigeria is not only diverse in size, but also languages, residence, age and socio-economic
orientation.
The National Security Adviser, noted that the planning and conduct of a gigantic programme such as the census would no
doubt come with its challenges in terms of security and logistics arrangement, stating that the committee must
be conscious of several risks factors that may militate against the successful conduct of the next census.
“Potential areas of threats to the census includes physical attacks on NPC staff and facilities, attacks on security personnel on census duty, kidnapping, inter/intra-
communal violence disrupting preparatory and main census work, 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, among others.
Most prominent is the issue of insecurity arising from banditry, kidnapping, armed conflicts, terrorism, insurgency and other violent crimes which poses a major challenge to the census exercise,” he added.
Ribadu, however, pointed out that the government has put in serious efforts to make the country safe for everyone, adding that with coordinated synergy by this Committee, the safe movement of personnel and materials before,
during and after the census would be guaranteed.
He stated that the committee would be replicated in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory and in the 774 local government areas of the country, for a robust security and logistic architecture.
Also speaking the chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Hon Nasir Isa Kwarra, said the commission attaches great importance to the work of the Security and Logistic Committee whose work is very critical and important to the commission in its quest to give Nigerians credible, reliable and acceptable census data for national planning.
Kwarra assured all members of the committee of steadfast support from the commission, adding that the commission is ready to fully support the committee in all areas, to make it succeeds in its assignments.
He added that the commission would without delay organize workshop on processes and methodologies for the census to keep members of the committee up-to-date on the preparation for the census.