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2023 Census Will Not Canvass Questions On Religious Affiliation —NPC

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Joel Ajayi

The National Population Commission (NPC) has revealed that the 2023 census will not canvass questions on religious affiliation. 

The Director, Public Affairs of NPC Isiaka Yahaya, in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, stated this on Tuesday while debunking a viral WhatsApp audio claiming that the religious affiliation of a person will be canvassed.

 According to the statement, our attention has been drawn to an audio tape going viral on the WhatsApp social media platform across the country which stated that the religious affiliations of respondents will be canvassed in the 2023 Population and Housing Census.

 “The audio tape calls on Muslims in Nigeria to see the purported canvassing of information on their religious affiliations as a tool to suppress their population figures. It therefore instructed adherents of the Islamic faith to resist any attempt to divide the religion of Islam by refusing to answer any question on their religious affiliations.

 “For the avoidance of doubt, the Commission wishes to state unequivocally that the 2023 Population and Housing Census will not canvass questions on religion and religious affiliations of respondents.

 “The decision to exclude religion along with ethnicity from the census questionnaire was taken in due consideration of the sensitive nature of these issues within the Nigerian polity and the need to save the census data from needless controversies and attention.”

 The statement further said that a fact check on the origin of the purported message showed that it was first circulated in Ghana during its 2021 population census exercise through a Whatsapp message. “This negative message found its way into the Nigerian social media space in July 2022 when the Commission conducted the Trial Census. The re-circulation of the message in audio form as the Commission sets to conduct the 2023 Population and Housing Census in May 2023 is an indication that some elements are bent on drawing the 2023 Census into unnecessary controversies through propagation of falsehood and incitement of a section of the population to destabilize existing peaceful coexistence in the country.

“The Commission carried out extensive consultation with data users and stakeholders in coming up with the questions to be canvassed in the next census. The overarching goal of the questionnaire is to generate data that will facilitate sustainable development. The questionnaire is robust and include demographic characteristics of respondents and other socio-economic characteristics but without any question whatsoever on religion and ethnicity.

“Members of the general public are therefore enjoined to disregard the rumour of question on religious affiliation contained in the audio tape in circulation and extend maximum cooperation to the enumerators for the sake of delivering a credible, reliable and acceptable 2023 Population and Housing Census data for national development planning.”

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Corps Marshal Charges Staff on Productivity, Recommit To Workers Welfare Programs

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Joel Ajayi 


The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Shehu Mohammed has charged staff to sustain the tempo of last year’s productivity with a view to improving the service delivery goals of the Corps in 2025, saying staff capacity development, welfare and regular promotion exercise will remain the cornerstones of his Management agenda.

The Corps Marshal stated this during the maiden 2025 Corps Marshal’s parade organized at the FRSC National Headquarters Abuja on Monday, 3rd February, 2025. 


While reviewing the Corps’ 2024 activities, Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed gave kudos to the Management staff, Commanding Officers, Heads of Unit and generality of staff for the sacrifices, initiatives and commitment they demonstrated in making the success achieved in the last year’s activities, especially in the end of year special patrol which possible.

“With your resilience and tenacity, we were able to contain the traffic management challenges and created safer road environment for all travellers during the Christmas and new year celebrations,” he stated. 


The  Corps Marshal commiserated with the families of the deceased staff who lost their lives in active service, praying for the peaceful repose of their souls. He however stressed the need for staff to take their health seriously by participating in regular fitness exercises and visit hospitals for regular checkups to avoid major health challenges.


On the need for increased productivity, the Corps Marshal charged staff not to rest on their oars in raising the bar of productivity attained last year, assuring that staff who display excellence in their given assignments would be duly rewarded while those that are found to be indolent or unproductive would not go unpunished.

“You must be prepared to respond appropriately to instructions, show excellence in your work and avoid acts of indiscipline including rumour mongering, indolence and any acts capable of dragging the image of the Corps to the muds,” the Corps Marshal stated. 


On the 37th anniversary celebration of the FRSC which comes up on 18 February this year, the Corps Marshal congratulated the staff for holding tenaciously onto the values of the Corps as envisioned by the founding fathers, noting that despite the challenges, the organization has remained on track in its commitment to serving humanity over the years.

He vowed to sustain the values of service delivery under his leadership and called on all staff to join in the campaign to make FRSC a leading example of a high performance organization not only in Nigeria but globally.


On staff welfare, the Corps Marshal disclosed that as part of his commitment to creating conducive working and living environments for the staff, the FRSC Staff Cooperative Scheme and the FRSC Housing Cooperative are being strengthened to make them more responsive to the needs of the staff. To this end, he disclosed that arrangement is being made with some reputable House developers to make affordable houses available to the staff while efforts have been completed for the FRSC to operate its own Healthcare Management Organization (HMO).

This, he said will make it possible for the Corps to provide more qualitative healthcare to staff and their families for improved health conditions for all staff.


On the technological innovations of the FRSC, the Corps Marshal stressed the need for staff to download the FRSC Mobile app launched last year to enable them have proper understanding of the Corps’ technical advancement in addressing the traffic management challenges of the country and for them to have information that could assist them to educate members of the public.


Speaking on promotion exercise, the Corps Marshal disclosed that promotion exercises for this year will commence very soon to fill vacant positions starting from those of the Deputy Corps Marshals (DCMs) while others will follow accordingly to make sure that there’s no backlog in promotion matters.


The Corps Marshal further enjoined staff to embrace the digitization policy of the Corps by learning to become more computer literate, saying very soon, the process will be completed and use of papers may become obsolete in most administrative and operational activities of the Corps as every office will be provided with computers to work with.


On the ongoing amendment of the FRSC Establishment Act 2007,  the Corps Marshal disclosed that public hearing towards the amendment of the Act was organized by the House of Representatives ast year and enjoined all staff to brace up for greater responsibilities in the expected amendments to justify the efforts.


The Corps Marshal encouraged staff with good ideas to always pass such ideas through their superior officers in line with the channels of communication, saying everyone’s idea is important in moving the Corps to greater heights.
While recommitting to the ideals of the FRSC as envisioned by the founding fathers, the Corps Marshal assured that all necessary steps would be taken to give the staff sense of responsibility and pride, saying no one will be denied of his or her entitlement including proper recognition for any achievement made by the staff in the course of carrying out the official assignment.


The parade address which took place after the Corps Marshal inspected the Quarter Guard and carried out general inspections of the main parade consisting the officers and Marshals of the National Headquarters ended with Three Hearty Cheers to the Corps Marshal. 


Staff who spoke shortly after the parade address expressed optimism that this year will be more productive, rewarding and glorious for all the staff. They also wished the Corps Marshal well in his determination to quickly bring positive changes to the FRSC.

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