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Controversy rages over the 2006 Census
figures as stakeholders hold tenaciously to their points of argument.
Not quite long after the figures which put Nigeria at 140 million were
released by Chairman of National Population Commission, Chief Samu’ila
Danko Makama, reactions poured in from different quarters over the
virility or otherwise of the results.
Top among the list of protesters is Lagos
State which published a monogram disputing the figures “allotted it”.
The state alleged falsification of the results by the NPC for reasons it
claimed are detrimental to the planning and development of the state
especially with regards to social security of the citizens of the state.
Most critics cry foul over the figures
which they believe were manipulated for financial advantages to some
states accruing from the federation account, especially as regards the
controversy over Lagos and Kano figures. A notion which is largely
misconstrued as large population is not only the indices on which money
is allocated to states. This group believes that with the influx of
people on a daily basis into Lagos, the state’s population had grown
astronomically in the last 15 years. My senior colleague, Yushau Shuaib
buttressed this fact in his widely published opinion on “Population
Figures: Lagos vs. Kano” when he described Lagos as a state with
“limited land mass”. Many are more convinced also when they look at UN
Population Prospects for Lagos Urban Agglomeration which stood at 8.6
million as at year 2000 and asked if it was possible that the population
of Lagos could have been static or risen just by an insignificant,
ridiculous figure of 348,000 plus in 6 years?
The next group of people who rejected the
results of the census is the governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu
who contended that with the level of birthrate, economic and human
activity and population density in the country, Nigeria should not be
less than 200 million. As such, the governor sees the figures as
laughable and politically manipulated to undermine the economic
interests and political relevance of certain parts of the country
particularly the South-East. He is not alone in this line of thought.
Another contender is Nassarawa State where
its legislators at the federal level insist that since the state boasts
of the widest land mass in the country, it should naturally have more
people inhabiting the state than the quoted figure ascribed to it. They
also claim that some local governments in the state returned with the
same or less than those figures in the 1991 census. While rejecting the
census figure, the lawmakers buttressed the increasing large population
of the state to the fact that majority of junior workers and victims of
the demolition exercises in the nation’s capital city, Abuja, take
solace in neighboring towns that are within the precincts of Nassarawa
State. They added that the middle cadre officers and businesspeople who
could not afford the exorbitant rents in the Abuja metropolis, reside
within the boundaries of the state.
The Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, is
not left out in this protest as the authorities of the city believe that
since the movement of the federal capital to Abuja, the city has
witnessed increased influx of people and subsequent population growth
such that the figure published as its population is morally
questionable.
In its rejection of the figures, Lagos
State Government presented a book on “Errors, Miscalculations and
Omissions: The Falsification of Lagos Census Figures.” In the book, the
state government, through the Commissioner for Science and Technology,
Mr. Obafemi Hamzat put the population of the State at 17.5 million. The
state used certain indices such as Children Immunization Figures,
Housing Parameters, NPC Form 01, Number of Enumeration Areas (EAs),
Number of Vehicles and its Density, Student Population, National
Identification Programme and Other Independent Reports to arrive at the
above figures and concluded that the figure released by NPC as it
pertains to Lagos is wrong, inaccurate and clearly illogical based on
the visible demographic, biological and social parameters earlier
highlighted.
But in a swift but calculated bid, the
National Population Commission, put up a rejoinder in form of a
publication titled “Misunderstanding, Misperception and
Misrepresentation of the 2006 Census”, at the National Press Centre,
Abuja, countering the Lagos position. The NPC did not stop there.
Through its Chairman, Chief Makama, the Commission nullified and voided
what it termed the “Lagos parallel census” declaring it as illegal since
it was/is only the Commission that has the Constitutional powers to
conduct a credible census.
Chief Makama who holds the title of the
“Ubandoman Pyem” gave the consequences of what he called
“simplistic” extrapolation of census figures from the EA-based
population threshold which he said was used as a yardstick by Lagos
State. He said that if one follows the “naïve” proposition of Lagos
State, then with an EA population threshold of 1000, the upper limit of
the Nigerian population will be very close to 662.5 million. 750
threshold will be 496.8 million and 500 threshold will be 332.2 million
people.
On the basis of EA, one of the journalists
present at the World Press Conference which held at the National Press
Centre, Abuja, asked whether the extrapolation of the figures bordering
on EA-based population threshold arrived at the above given figures was
peculiar to Lagos situation or used to calculate every state in Nigeria.
The thinking was that the population threshold should not be used on a
generic manner but one in which each state is calculated according to
its EA.
The arguments and controversies continue
even as Chief Samu’ila Makama challenged every aggrieved party to be
bold to meet the Commission at the yet-to-be- set-up Census Tribunal.
But a few and very vital things remain unattended to:
It makes no difference whose argument is
more valid. Like most commentators have said I am more concerned about
issues of poverty eradication, rural integration, job creation, economic
and social transformation of the people. Rather than raise hell over the
census figures as approved by the National Council of States, it will be
better if we use the result for effective national planning and for
further cohesion of the diverse ethnic groups in the country. The census
exercise should be deployed towards effective social, political and
economic development of our great country. I agree with one Yushau
Shuaib who writes that a “population is worthless if it does not
contribute to economic growth and standard of living as it may breed a
population that is risky to the society” Let me add, the likes of
Almajiris, Areas Boys and Agberos.
A pertinent question the
pro-highest-number-for-Kano people should ask is: Has Kano fared any
better with all that number in terms of planning, economic development
and welfare of the people since the last census of 1991? Are both states
– Kano and Lagos – not Nigerian states? As a people, are we happy that
Lagos is losing its excellence which gave us our glory as a nation? The
harm to us, as a nation cuts across geo-political borders. It is a human
thing which requires human face.
In all of the above the simple, but not
too simplistic issue of “food-on-the-table” i.e. welfare of the common
person is a recurring decimal. Until that is taken care of, the undue
and wasteful spending of hundreds of millions of tax payers money on
frivolities in printing books, holding World Press Conferences and
settling attorney fees all geared towards driving home uneconomic,
unprofitable and undevelopmental points should be halted.
Let us embark on a journey to build a
nation that we will be proud of. One in which we will have the
opportunity to attain our full potential. One in which no one will judge
us based on our ethnicity, religion or gender.
Marshall Ifeanyi
National Press Centre, Abuja
Marshall
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