BY Godfrey Ofurum, in Aba
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has described the collation of reliable data on population as a key requirement for effective planning for national development.
Ikpeazu stated this at his Umuobiakwa country home, in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, while hosting a delegation of the National Population Commission, led by Johny Nwabuisi, federal commissioner representing Abia State at the commission.
Governor Ikpeazu made it clear that periodic census was critical to national development, because governments at all levels need to know the exact number of people whom they are serving and how best to apportion resources.
He explained that the realisation of the importance of population census management led his administration to set up a population committee for the state, for the purpose of liaising with the federal government to ensure that the next population census will be seamless in the state.
He assured the federal commissioner that his administration shall work closely with the commission to ensure that the next census scheduled to hold in 2023, is successful.
Nwabuisi said the NPC officials were in Obingwa as part of their plan to organise a trial census, which is to be used to assess their level of preparedness for the main census.
He also stated that it will be a good time for them to test their different equipment in readiness for the census next year.
Obingwa LGA, according to him, is one of the local government areas chosen for the trial. He thanked the governor for the foresight in setting up the state population committee under the chairmanship of Eric Nwakanma, a former deputy governor of the state, describing it as a key step towards a successful census exercise in the state, and assured that the commission will work closely with the committee to capture the true population figure for Abia State.
Nwakanma also thanked the governor for establishing the committee and assured that they will do all that is necessary to see that the true population figures for the state are captured in the next census.
Other members of the State Population Committee are Charles Ama, Ikechukwu Nwabeke, Randie Ukawoko, Ben Nwachi and M U Ihemadu
