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The Falsification Of Population Results By Saliu Iyanda
The recently released census results for 2007 fall short of the expectations of the Nigerian people. For the outcome of the census result which the Federal Executive Council hurriedly passed grossly understated the population figures of the country. International organizations have been using conservative estimate of between 170million to 200million people for more than ten years now. So, how come that the population is just about 140million people now? The fact of the matter remains that the population commission did a very poor that, job; it only rushed to meet specific targets at the very last minute, the implication of this is that many people in the country were not counted. A lot of alarm was raised about this but the government will not just listen to the complaints of the people. This is definitely not the kind of census Nigeria needs, the government just awarded figures to states, so that, it can easily manipulate the outcome of the 2007 general elections. For instance, how can Kano State have higher figures than Lagos State, and Katsina State have more people than Oyo State. Or Kwara State that had 2million people 12 years ago retaining the same figure in 2007. The fact of the matter is that, the outcome of the census result is not supported by demographic theory, which states very clearly that coastal regions are more densely populated than areas that are closer to the desert. In the just released results, the reverse is the case, with areas that are closest to the desert recording far higher figures than those closer to the ocean. In a proper census, the number of women and children are normally higher than those of men, again in Nigeria this is not the case. This therefore confirm the speculation in some quarters that the outcome of the census result is being tampered with, so that, there will be chaos and confusion in the country, hence a state of emergency will be declared, hence, there will be no election and this is in furtherance of the third term agenda. This shows very evidently that the government of the day is doing a lot of disservice to itself, by demonstrating shamelessly that it has no integrity, credibility and the good of the entire country at heart. It is pursuing a different agenda that is different to those of the teeming masses of the Nigerian state. At the very best the result of the census is only good for the trash can, as it will not help in any way in planning for the genuine and overall, all round development of the Nigerian State. The fact of the prevailing situation is that, when you have crooks in government, this is the kind of thing that happens. There is a fundamental disconnect between those in government and those that they are governing. It is paddy-paddy government, yet the masses are suffering and smiling. They have been turned into second class citizens in their own country. And, disappointingly not a single governor could raise his voice or speak up to register the displeasure of the people to the outcome of this very horrendous population figures. Since, General Obasanjo has ruling the country like a headmaster from the time he came on board in 1999. Without mincing words, these figures are just Obasanjo’s calculations at election rigging, they will not stand the test of time, and those who are prevailing over the affairs of the country at this material time are so very selfish and self-centered. They don’t care a hoot about the plight of the masses, they are consistently feeding fat on the toil and sweat of the Nigerian People, and on a daily basis acquiring the collective patrimony of the Nigerian people as well as sharing the national cake amongst themselves and their family members. China with a population in excess of one billion conducts its census in a single day without rancour and manipulation. But in Nigeria, this is not the case; this is because we have vagabonds in power. According to the recently released results, Kano State has the largest population of 9.384 million in Nigeria with Lagos State coming second with 9.014 million people, and the various international bodies have consistently projected the population of Lagos to be about 15 million. By geographical spread, the three geo-political zones of the North have a combined population of 75,025, 166 and the combined population of southern states is put at 64, 978 , 376, hence the total population figures is 140, 003, 542. This is made up of 71,709, 859 males and 68, 293, 683 females. All previous census exercises had attended by controversies. This, experts have linked to the politicization of the population distribution as the figures are used for revenue allocation from the federation account. They are also used for delineation of constituencies. Whether it was the 1963, 1973, 1991 and even this recent one, the figures are nothing but the figment of the imagination of those that want to continue to manipulate the destiny of the Nigerian people, but this will surely fail. The National Assembly should just look into the issue seriously not as a mere information that the president has indicated, but national issue that requires urgent attention. This kind of figures is only meant for the thrash can.
Saliu Iyanda Ilorin Kwara State Nigeria
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