Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has urged the National Population Commission (NPC) to create accurate, credible, and acceptable data with the forthcoming 2023 Census.
Obasanjo said such a document would assist the country in planning and formulating policies.
He made the call during a courtesy visit by the NPC Executive Chairman Nasir Kwarra, who came alongside the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Country Representative in Nigeria and other officials of the commission at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta.
According to the former president, if a credible and accurate census is achieved by the NPC, it will help the nation in planning better and formulating policies that will aid the development of the country.
Obasanjo said: “We are running away from making use of our census, the same way we are running from religion and ethnicity.
“The census should lead to real demarcation of constituencies which we have run away from since 2006
“Census figures that we do not use for planning, for real demarcation and all that is not serving a useful purpose; it is a waste of money; I believe we should get this right so that we will be able to know where we are today.
“I don’t know how long we will keep running away from census, and we keep deceiving and lying to ourselves, by running away from the truth we must face and deal with it.”
