BY CHIKA KWAMBA
THE Asagba of Asaba, HRM Obi (Prof) Epiphany Azinge SAN, has charged the Federal Government not to politicize the proposed 2025 national population and housing census.
HRM Obi Azinge gave the charge when he played host to the federal commissioner representing Delta State in the National Population Commission (NPC), Hon (Mrs) Blessyn Brume-Ataguba.
The monarch lamented the unavailability of accurate population data for planning and development purposes, adding that the consequences have led to poor infrastructures and the provision of critical public and social amenities.
‘’Mine is to wish you well; that where there are near-impossibilities, God will make it possible for you to ensure that the census takes place in 2025. We pray for a census devoid of politicization. Let us tell ourselves the truth for once.
‘’Let us stop politicizing census because the census is a way of planning for the growth and development of a country, knowing where to locate institutions—schools, hospitals, among others. Everything is predicated on the demography and available statistics.
‘’I can still not see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am not being pessimistic. I know Mr President means well but how can we conveniently conduct a census amid all these insecurities around us? How can we conduct a census in the terrorism-infested parts of the North or in the South where banditry and kidnapping hold sway?
‘’There are a lot of security challenges that I believe will militate against an effective operation and implementation of the census. However, I believe that you have the capacity and the wherewithal to find means of navigating through some of these uncharted paths’’ HRM Obi Aznige said.
He commended the commission for its successes and also introducing modern initiatives in realizing its mandate, but noted that much work was still needed, charging them to go the extra mile.
‘’If we can do things right in this country, I believe that things will be easier for us so that we know exactly how many of our children are in school and how many are out of school.
‘’Ours is a peculiar situation in Asaba. I do not need any demographic backup to tell you that more than 70 per cent of the population in Asaba are youths. The remaining 30 per cent is the ageing population.
‘’Do we have data to that effect? No. These are the things we should do to know those who have graduated from the universities, those seeking admission into tertiary academic institutions, those seeking employment, among others’’ the monarch said.
Earlier, the NPC federal commissioner, Hon Brume-Ataguba, solicited the support of the monarch for a successful enumeration exercise in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
