Joel Ajayi

The National Population Commission(NPC) said it is set to conduct a trial census in June 2022, in 4,068 selected Enumeration Areas(EAs) across the country.

Nasir Isa Kwarra, Chairman of NPC, stated this on Monday at the Master Trainers Workshop for the Trial Census held in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

Kwarra explained that the Trial Census would cover 36 states and Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, adding that six LGAs would be selected from six states in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria for full population enumeration while forty-five (45) EAs would be selected from each of the thirty-one States.

In total, he said, 4,068 Enumeration Areas have been selected for the Trial Census to test run their suitability and readiness for the actual census scheduled to take place in April 2023.

Explaining the essence of the trial census, Kwarra said the Trial census, also known as the “census dress rehearsal”, is one of the pre-census activities, in which all census operations are tested in a detailed and comprehensive manner.

According to him, “Trial census takes place, ideally and as a matter of best practice, one year ahead of the actual census data, when major external circumstances, such as season (weather), holiday periods, school year schedule, etc. can be expected to be like when the census proper will be conducted.

“The Trial census tests all phases of the main census, from planning to the execution of the plans, logistics arrangement, and management, questionnaire design and format, training procedures, fieldwork operations, publicity, payment system, data processing, data tabulations, and analysis.”

The Chairman of NPC stressed the need for the personnel to be adequately trained to realize the quality and reliable census.

“The quality of the personnel for the Trial Census has a great impact on its outcomes.

“The need to properly train the facilitators who will in turn train the supervisors and the enumerators at the zonal and state level cannot be over-emphasized.

“For the next few days, participants at the training of the trainers’ workshop will re-evaluate the skills and practical demonstrations of operations in the field with the overall effort to deliver a truly scientific Trial Census that can prepare the ground for a credible and acceptable census next year,” he said.

He pointed out that getting the Trial Census right is not just an option but an absolute necessity in the quest to deliver a credible, reliable, acceptable, and verifiable census to the nation.

He added that the Commission would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the Trial Census is carried out meticulously, professionally, and scientifically to provide the basis for the smooth conduct of the 2023 Population and Housing Census.

In his remarks, Dr. Ipalibo Harry, Chairman Census Committee, urged the personnel to be fair and transparent in the conduct of their activities in the field.

Harry, who is also the Federal Commissioner representing Rivers State in the Commission, assured that security would be provided for the personnel to guarantee their safety.

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