President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has described the conflicting population figures often cited by Nigerians abroad as a national disgrace, emphasizing the need for fresh census.
He made this known on Wednesday during a meeting with members and management if the National Population Commission (NPC), who visited him to update the Senate on preparations for the upcoming national census.
Nigeria last conducted a census in 2006.
Senator Akpabio emphasized the critical role of a national census in effective planning and development, noting that it would also eliminate conflicting population figures.
“I don’t want to call it a national disgrace, but It’s a national embarrassment that even Nigerians representing us at international fora do not know our population.
“Sometimes, you hear 250 million Nigerians, other times It’s 270 million. Some African countries think It’s time to put an end to this confusion.
“You cannot truly plan for the future If you don’t know how many mouths you want to feed or how many children to put in school. You can’t determine the number of classroom blocks to build without a reliable data.
“Any country that does not plan for its future has already accepted failure. We will be failing future generations If we do not begin proper planning – and that planning start with the census”, he said.
NPC Chairman Isa Kwarra, who led the delegation, explained that the purpose of the visit was to brief the Senate President on the Commission’s progress and to seek legislative support.
-9News Nigeria.
