The Transition Committee Chairman of Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, Hon. Sir Ogo Ekwueme has inaugurated the local government census committee with a call on the members to ensure adequate sensitization and mobilization of the people to enable them embrace the forthcoming population census scheduled to hold in April next year.
The Chairman who was represented by the Deputy Transition Chairman, Hon. Henry Madu explained that the essence of census cannot be overemphasized adding that without census, there would be no development.
According to him, “There is no amount of discussion or deliberations on census that can be overemphasized. The whole essence of governance boils down to population census. The welfare of the population, the infrastructural development, food, healthcare, everything boils down to census. That we have representatives at the National Assembly, State Houses of Assembly, Councillors and the PGs, traditional rulers, clan heads, village heads, everything boils down to population census.
“And so, whenever we talk of census, we are talking of the people, how the people will benefit from governance and how the government of the day will reach down to the grassroot. We thank God that today in Anambra State, we are talking of achieving a liveable and prosperous homeland. There’s no way we can achieve it in Anambra State without knowing our size – our size yesterday, our size today and our projected size for tomorrow and that is what this committee is mandated to ensure and guarantee.
“So, what we are gathered here to actually do, beyond just mere inauguration, it’s all about those of us here seeing this business as something very serious. If we get it wrong, it will trickle down to the community and at the end of the day, we will all be the losers – our communities, our local government and our state.
While reminding members of the Committee that they were highly regarded in the local government hence their invitation to serve in the committee, he said, “You are highly regarded because Orumba North believed that you can contribute immensely so that if we are saying we are ten million, it’s only when we all put our hands together and sensitize our people enough for them not to see this forthcoming census as mere exercise in futility. We must make our people to believe in it with everything we have. We must make our people to understand that our power to be heard is dependent essentially on our size and there can be no better time than now.
Also speaking, the Controller, National Population Commission, NPC, Orumba North, Mrs. Rose Dim decried the little interest shown by indigenes of Orumba North in applying to work as adhoc staff for the coming population census even as she explained that if there were not enough applicants from the local government, the Commission would be forced to move people from other local governments to take up those positions.
Informing that recruitment was still open until December 28, 2022, she said, “You are all aware that recruitment is done online, e-recruitment, there’s a link provided for people to apply for and if you did not do that, to recruit you to do this work will be very hard because everything pertaining to this coming census goes to the cloud in Abuja because they are monitoring what we are doing here.
“Let us try to sensitize our people especially those in the hard to reach areas, there’s need for them to be captured and well sensitized”, the Controller stated.
On her part, the Head of Local Government Administration of Orumba North Local Government Area, Mrs. Stella Nwankwo while describing members of the committee as enlightened, urged them to take it upon themselves to ensure that the grassroot were properly sensitized and enlightened about the forthcoming census.
She observed that Anambra State was disadvantaged in the 2006 population census and was suffering the effect till today as a result of the activities of the promoters of Biafra who could not allow the people to participate in the last population census on the ground that Igbos were not part of Nigeria and should not be counted.
“So, in this coming one, we need to open our eyes. This information should be disseminated. Those of us that are going to be inaugurated, please do the needful. We need to take appropriate steps to ensure that we get it right this time because if we don’t get it right this time, I don’t think we can get right again. So, let us have a change of mind and do what is expected of us”, she admonished.
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