Disabilities Commission Encourages Community Participation in Census 

The Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, Mr James  Lalu has urged Persons with Disabilities all over the country to come out en mass and be counted as Nigeria prepares for the 2023 National Population and Housing Census.

The Executive Secretary made the call in Lagos, South West Nigeria at a town hall meeting organised by National Population Commission to sensitise citizens.

Mr Lalu reminded Persons with Disabilities that their population commands political as well as economic strength in the country for equitable distribution of the nation’s wealth and resources.

He further urged parents and guardians of Persons with Disabilities to encourage their Wards to participate in the forthcoming population census exercise for the desired visibility and inclusion.

However, the Minister of Information and Culture,  Alhaji Lai Mohammed who was represented at the event by the Director General of the National Orientation Agency, Dr. Garba Abari spoke extensively on the importance of holding the census this year, stating that the Headcount is quite invaluable at a point the world population is increasing geometrically.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Chairman, of the National Population Commission,  Nasir Isa Kwarra, who was represented by Dr. Eyitayo Oyetunji of the Commission,  mentioned that the 2006 census was far outdated, hence the need to have a fresh enumeration cannot be overemphasised.

“No Nation can grow proportionally without adequate statistical data of her citizenry which is a basic guide to planning for development”, he asserted.

Eyitayo, therefore, appealed to citizens to cooperate with the enumerators while on national assignment in order to make the population census a seamless exercise.

In her keynote address, the Minister of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadia Umar Farouq, underscored that millions of the most vulnerable groups in Nigeria needed to be captured accurately for the attainment of the poverty alleviation programme of President Muhammadu Buhari even as he bows out later this year.

The Minister equally reiterated that the vision of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to lift 10 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years has been achieved to a large extent through the establishment of the Social Safety Nets since the inception of his administration.

Dominica Nwabufo