The Federal Government has released the timetable for the trial census which already commenced on Monday.

This was even as it disclosed that the exercise will hold in one Local Government Area (LGA) across the six geo-political zones across the country.

The Chairman, National Population Commission (NPC), Hon Nasir Isa Kwarra, made the disclosure at a briefing on Monday in Abuja.

According to him, the exercise, in line with FG’s approval, will run from 27th June to 30th July 2022.

He said already, a 12-day state training of field functionaries commenced today (Monday 27th) and would last until 8th July.

Kwarra added that building numbering and the household listing will commence from 11th to 16th July while validation of the EA frame will run from 17th – 19th July.

However, he said enumeration of persons will commence from 20th to 24th July 2022 while mop-up enumeration will run from 25th to 30th July 2022.

The Chairman explained that the trial census is aimed at testing all aspects of census operations, from planning to implementation including logistics arrangement and management, questionnaire design and format, training procedures, fieldwork operations, publicity, payment system, data processing, data tabulations and analysis.

“For this Trial Census, the specific objectives are assessing the quality and the usefulness of the Enumeration Area (EA) maps that had been created, determine the possible demographic as well as geographical changes that might have occurred in the EAs carved between 2016-2018 and their implications for census taking,” he said.

He stressed that because it is a sample exercise, the exercise will only be conducted in selected areas.

He identified the six local government areas which will be fully enumerated to include: Toungo Local Government Area, Adamawa State – North East, Daura Local Government Area, Katsina State, North West, Karu Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, North Central, Imeko-Afon Local Government Area, Ogun State, South West, Idemili South Local Government Area, Anambra State, South East and Brass Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, South-South.

The Chairman further noted that a total of 7,718 EAs have been selected for the Trial Census to test run suitability and readiness for the actual census in 2023.

“The selection of the coverage areas has been scientifically and purposively carried out to achieve the objectives of the Trial Census. The selection of samples from all states of the federation and the FCT is expected to yield nationwide information on state-specific issues that may arise for the next census and come up with possible solutions for addressing these challenges.

“However, some states have been selected for full LGA enumeration to test challenges around complete coverage under various scenarios such as in hard-to-reach areas, special populations, and rural-urban settings,” he added.

He reiterated that the exercise was not the actual enumeration of persons for the 2023 Population and Housing Census.

“In other words, the outcome of the Trial Census will not form the basis of the 2023 Census. Data generated during the Trial Census will not be used to arrive at figures for the 2023 Census, which is going to be zero-based and from information collected in April 2023,” he added. (Nigerian Tribune)

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