Chief of Staff to Abia Governor, Pastor Caleb Ajagba has called for the inclusion of technology into census procedures to ensure accurate population data for effective planning and development in every state.
Pastor Ajagba who made this call at Government House Umuahia while hosting Management of the National Population Commission, highlighted the critical role of technology in overcoming longstanding challenges in population enumeration and data gathering.
Ajagba pointed out that no nation can plan or meet it’s obligation without credible data which they derive from the population census.
He stressed the need for a comprehensive overhaul of census methodologies and advised the Commission to embrace advanced technological solutions such as data analytics, geospatial mapping, and digital enumeration tools.
The Chief of Staff who underscored the importance of accurate data in shaping policies and efficient allocation of resources, expressed concern over Nigeria’s inability to provide a credible population census and stated that relying solely on estimations undermines the ability of governments to plan effectively.
According to him “some of the challenges (of the National Population Commission) can be resolved with the introduction of Technology. If you continue to do things the way you are doing it, in the years gone by, you will not be able to achieve so much because the world has gone ahead.
“There would be a need to adopt Technology both in your enumeration and data gathering. It is unfortunate that up until now we can’t give a credible population census of Nigeria, we only do estimation, but then that will not enable any serious government to plan”, Pastor Ajagba maintained.
He added that the state government is committed to support the National Population Commission in modernizing census operations and called for collaborative efforts between government agencies, technology experts, and stakeholders to implement innovative solutions to achieve a credible population census.
Earlier in their separate speeches the State Director of the Nigeria Population Commission, Lady Juliana Ezebuiro and a director in the Commission, Mr Uduma Agbai Kalu, revealed that the Commission is saddled with the responsibility of overseeing statistical gathering of data and analysis for developmental and economical purposes.
They requested government support in areas such as logistics, security, publicity and mass mobilization to enable the commission conduct a free, fair and credible census in the state adding that the Commission has put in adequate manpower in obtaining data from the most remote places in the state.
They further commended the State government for the honour done them.
Contributing, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr Ngozi Azodo, The Director General, Abia State Agency for the Control of AIDS (ABSACA) Dr. Uloaku Ukaegbu and the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Labour Matters, Sir Godson Anucha proposed a synergy between the National Population Commission and the State Ministry of Health in the area of undertaking adequate demographic data, compiling and publishing several registration and statistics in line with the Nation’s population policy.
