Managing Nigeria’s population
The revised but comprehensive National Population Policy in 2004, that touches on education, health and nutrition, population and development, urbanization, housing, gross domestic product, agriculture and food security, environment, among other has not been accorded strong commitment by successive governments to implement the policy. This is largely responsible for the quality of our population. We […]
The revised but comprehensive National Population Policy in 2004, that touches on education, health and nutrition, population and development, urbanization, housing, gross domestic product, agriculture and food security, environment, among other has not been accorded strong commitment by successive governments to implement the policy. This is largely responsible for the quality of our population. We have over the years had the highest maternal and child mortality rates in Africa, the most endemic polio country in the world, highest rates in poverty, malaria, HIV/AIDs and unemployment in Africa, as well as lowest rates in contraceptive prevalence, literacy, gross domestic product, lowest infrastructural base, agricultural productivity, etc.
After a three-month diagnosis of population management in Nigeria, the National Population Commission (NPC) headed by Eze Festus Odimegwu found out that there has never really been any serious commitment to population management by successive administrations in Nigeria since independence until now.
It is in the light of the above that the new management of the NPC has developed a five-year strategic plan laying foundation for a solid comprehensive and reliable data base system in Nigeria. The plan underlines the importance of vital registration as foundational data source that is very critical to the data needs of all organisations involved in mass registration projects. These include the banks, traffic and drivers’ registration, voter registration, school enrolment, national identity scheme, immigration records, consumer credit schemes, security, etc. Its neglect by successive governments over the years is responsible for the dearth of a reliable data system in Nigeria.
The NPC is also paying special attention to primary source of data for all mass registration in towards a comprehensive and holistic population management agenda by ensuring a 100 per cent coverage in 2015.
With previous census always trailed controversy, the current NPC management has decided that the 2016 census would be evidence-based bio-metric census as a measure to reduce manipulations. Also part of these measures is to acquire high resolution satellite imageries for the delineation of the entire country.
The NPC has identified 16 population quality improvement issues among them are political and socio-economic issues that have direct and indirect impact on the greater majority of the population. The current strategic five-year agenda estimated at N600 billion is meant for expansion of vital registration project to attain 100 per cent coverage in 2016, creation of vital registration centres in every community of the country and the engagement of several thousands of registrars who would have to be trained and paid living wages. Arrangements are also being made to build a communication infrastructure that would link all registration centres in the country online/real-time to a central portal in Abuja.
NPC’s high resolution satellite imageries are fundamental to the conduct of the 2016 census and the issuance of the National Identity Card especially as it relates to the National Identification Number (NIM). All legitimate residents of Nigeria would be required to have this number by which everyone will be identified. This number will be residents’ identity without which they will not be able to, among other things, open a bank account, obtain a passport or voters card and register their vehicle plate numbers. When the welfare scheme comes on stream, it would be the identity by which the unemployed will obtain welfare benefits as practised in developed countries.
It is pertinent to mention that the Commission has never been under any illusion that it could extract that entire amount from the federal purse alone. What it presented to the Federal Government was a five-year strategic plan that has a financial implication of that amount. The Commission has it traditional sources of funding. Out of the N36.5 billion expended for the 2006 population and housing census for instance, only N18.8 billion came from the Federal Government. The rest of the funding came from development partners. Outside the 2006 Census, the donor agencies also made their impact on the other projects of the commission. It is regrettable that some people who are ignorant of the great benefits of this foundation infrastructure are trying to shoot down this vision by tying it to huge cost to the nation. Some are suggesting that the NPC should collate statistics from the reservoir of data already established by INEC, NIMC and FRSC instead of “wasting” N600 billion to conduct the 2016 census. These organisations’ individual data collections are instruments designed, tailored and limited to their specific needs. A whole range of demographic information, important for socio-economic planning, which are vital registration and census would normally collect, are not captured. Also, data collected by these organisations are not tied to any definite national frame.
Let’s assume that INEC has registered Nigerians of 18 years and above as eligible voters totalling 70 million, and NPC is only required to capture ages 0-17. What about the 18 years and above who did not register as well as foreigners not eligible to vote? What about those who were born since the last voter registration and those who died as well as those who left the country? Electoral bodies, traffic organisations, financial institutions, security and all such organisations that operate with mass data worldwide, plug unto census organisations, and never the other way round.
Eteng is Deputy Director, National Population Commission