KWENU: Our Culture, Our Future

Nigerian census: The excesses of corrupt center or mediocrity? (2)

ACHO ORABUCHI

Dallas, Texas, USA

aorabuchi@netzero.net

Monday, March 14, 2005

No country can plan adequately without an accurate census replete with series of demographic data. It would be an ecological fallacy if the government proceeds to conduct a census devoid of critical data for the policymakers to formulate and implement sound policies for national growth.

Probably in a bid to continue to undercount and over count some segments of the society for political subjugation and socio-political domination respectively, the federal government had found a cubbyhole in the exclusion of important demographic data such as religion and ethnicity in the census instrument.

Against this backdrop, many groups and individual Nigerians abroad are incensed about the deliberate exclusion of religious affiliation and ethnicity from the upcoming census questionnaire. One of the groups was PNF USA, which issued a statement on February 20, 2005 supporting a boycott of the census if the contending variables were not included in the instrument.

It began, “Taking time off from the planning of its 2005 Pan Igbo Political Conference, Pan Ndi-Igbo Foundation USA, the largest political pressure group for Ndi-Igbo in the Diaspora is sturdily supporting the Southeast governors’ position to boycott the upcoming national census exercise if ethnicity and religious affiliation are not included in the instrument for the national census.  We strongly condemn the exclusion of vital data such as ethnicity and religion in census questionnaire by the National Population Commission (NPC).”

“The census exercise would be a futile effort if some vital variables were not included in the instrument. As a result, we demand that the census questionnaire include the following indices: ethnicity, religious affiliation, state of origin, gender, age, citizenship, and profession. We call on well-meaning Nigerians from all ethnic and religious groups to boycott the charade that may be called census in Nigeria if pertinent data were not included in the questionnaire. Again, anything worth doing is worth doing well. Dependable head count is critical for national planning,” it continued.

“We urge the southeast governors to be steadfast in their demand and position to ensure that ethnicity and religion are part of data collected in the upcoming census. It serves no useful purpose to participate in a census that lacks credibility. The planned census could be seen as a smoke screen to distract attention from an abysmal record on the massive corruption, poverty, and total disenchantment and disconnect of the masses from this government. It is a joke that a country where poverty may become a weapon of genocide can afford to buy 166 bulletproof limousines for dignitaries in the upcoming AU meeting.”

“How does the world classify us if we cannot tell them how many Christians and Moslems we have? When 20, 000 people are killed in Kano, do we not want the world to know the ethnicity and religion of the victims? Every country, especially multicultural ones is identified by either religion or race. Tell us which European country that is not identified as either by its race white and or religion. Why should we allow the EU to fund our Census when they are the ones that set us in this path of no progress? Why are they giving us money? If we can purchase 166 bulletproof limousines for a four-day jamboree, we are certain that we can pay for our own Census. We must be cautious about accepting unsolicited funds that have hidden strings attached,” the Foundation cautioned.

Uzoma Onyemaechi held, “In Demography, every information is very important. The fact that the government will NOT be collecting such data is bad, how can we plan adequately for all the people? We need these data for schools, hospitals, roads, housing, economic development [location of industry and so on], environmental conservation, and the like. As of now, the government is using the 1963 census by extrapolation, which makes all their plans flawed. Nigerians have grown exponentially since 1963.” 

“These figures will help us in learning about fertility, mortality, migration, and labour rates. Also, information about the rate and level of urbanization of the country will help in adequately planning for urban renewal due to decay. The Federal Office of Statistics, Census Bureau, Universities, Research Centers [e.g. NISER] need such to maintain some data on the country and the census is a good way of acquiring the necessary data to start,” he continued.

“Having data on ethnicity will allow us to know how many Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, Ijaw, Urhobo, Bini, Kanuri, Nupe, Igede, Idoma, Ibibio, Efik, etc. Knowing how many of each of these groups will help in planning for the number of schools we need and the schools’ curriculum, and resources. For example, the Ijaw People are scattered in the Niger Delta area with no adequate plans for both their education and development.”

“Conducting a good census in Nigeria is a tall task considering all the political and ethnic problems that goes with it. Any census that does not give the North the majority will be considered flawed since the British drummed it into their heads back in the '50s that they're supposed to be more than the South by virtue of their landmass. Everyone knows that Canada is the second largest country in the world by landmass but one of the smallest in population,” he summarized.

Geoffrey I. Nzeadibe said,

“Census without religious affiliation and ethnicity is unheard of.  It is like cooking a very good pot of soup without adding salt and pepper into it.  Yes a final figure will be given but what will help people grasp the true multicultural aspects of Nigeria if the main elements used in such regards are taken out.  I don't know the ramification for proposing an exclusion of such vital information of ethnicity and religious affiliation in the census exercise of a nation, but it does say volume in the negative about the authenticity of the numbers that will be coming out thereof and the administration that supervised it.”

Ironically, while the government convened the National Political Reforms Conference (NPRC) to address decades of Nigeria’s structural and self-inflicted problems, the same government is bound to self-destruct again by expunging ethnicity and religion from its census data. Kaput!