By ABBAS BAMALLI

National Population Commission (NPC) says the planned 2023 population and housing census is not only targeted at the number of people and houses in each locality but also, to measure citizens’ level of development.

NPC Coordinator in Katsina State, Alhaji Ishaq Lawal, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Katsina.

According to him, the 2023 planned exercise is coming with lots of unique features compared with the previous ones, one of which is to know the living conditions of Nigerians.

This, he said, would assist government in its planning for better life for the people.

“The series of questions to be asked during the exercise will determine how government will be able to know the situation of the people in order to provide more social amenities for them.

“It will also help in knowing how many people are sleeping at homes, their ages, gender and educational levels of people in some particular areas as well as what they are doing for survival and other things.

“Government will be able to know the level of development in every locality across the country.

“In fact, the census will tell us who we are and where we are going as a nation, and help our communities determine where to build schools, supermarkets and hospitals, among others.

“It will also help government in deciding how to distribute funds and assistance to states and localities.

“Its purpose is to gather information about the general population, the housing conditions as well as other demographic, social and economic characteristics,” Lawal said.

He said that the exercise would provide reliable, credible, acceptable and successful census so as to help government in its planning for development and in bolstering the social security programme for vulnerable Nigerians.

Lawal said that simple and straightforward questions would be asked, adding that there would be no questions on religion and ethnicity.

He further called on the people of Katsina who are eligible and interested in serving as NPC ad-hoc staff during the forthcoming exercise to apply online.

Lawal said that NPC officials, in collaboration with National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Katsina, recently carried out a sensitisation walk on the importance of the exercise. (NAN)

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