Wale Jagun
The Lagos State Government has expressed its readiness to ensure the smooth and seamless conduct of the 2023 population and housing census in the State in 2023.
The Special Adviser, Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Hon. Mobolaji Ogunlende stated this on Thursday during a press briefing organised in preparation for the Lagos State Stakeholders Summit on Y20223 Population and Housing Census scheduled to hold on Tuesday, 20th December, 2022 at the Adeyemi-Bero Hall, Secretariat, Alausa.
He listed the goal of the Summit to include a broadening of the State-Level support base for the conduct of the 2023 Census, creating public awareness of the Census’s imperatives, methodology and timelines while promoting a robust and informed conversation on the processes and procedures.
According to him, Lagos State Government in collaboration with the National Population Commission(NPC) in the State will be soliciting the cooperation and support of the State Level Stakeholders and also providing a platform to offer clarification and receive feedback and suggestions on salient issues and concerns related to the conduct of the Y2023 Census.
He explained that the Stakeholders Summit engagement that will be led by the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, would also feature presentations by top Government Officials at Federal and State levels, traditional institutions, media, civil society groups, religious leaders, women and youth groups, academia, the private sector and developmental partners on the preparations for the coming Census exercise.
“Our summit is strategically designed to address paramount issues such as the finalisation of the compendium of localities, clarification of urban/rural, recruitment of ad-hoc personnel and comprehensive training activities/programmes. All these are germane to the success and credibility of the exercise”, the Special Adviser averred.
Ogunlende said that the success of the Y2023 Population and Housing Census is crucial to the developmental growth of the State, adding that the population census would be the first digital census exercise ever conducted in the country.
He, however, sought the cooperation and support of all and sundry for a successful enumeration exercise during the 2023 Census in the state.
Speaking at the press briefing, the Federal Commissioner for the National Population Commission in Lagos State, Mrs. Abimbola Salu-Hundeyin Esq stated that data is important for planning and positive growth, stressing that no country can survive without data and that a responsible government makes policies based on data to plan a better life for its citizens.
Salu-Hundeyin asserted that census data leads to evidenced-based governance which is verifiable by the citizens and also makes planning in governance easier.
She, however, solicited the cooperation of the Press for robust coverage and reportage of all the processes, particularly the issue of Census Migration where people leave their residences for their home states of origin during the enumeration exercise.
The Commissioner stated that such incidences usually lead to wrong and incorrect data figures, advising the Lagos residents to take ownership of the enumeration to ensure a successful exercise in Y2023.
