A total of 13,500 field functionaries comprising of of 11,510 enumerators, 1,529 Supervisors and 823 facilitators have been selected to participate in the conduct of the trial census scheduled for June 2022 as well as the April 2023 population and housing census.
Bala Almu-Banye, Federal Commissioner of the National Population Commission made the disclosure in Katsina State on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the zonal training workshop for principal trainers on trial census for the 2023 population and housing census.
According to Almu-Banye, the trial census also referred to as census dress rehearsal shall be conducted in all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
He also noted that “six Local Government Areas shall be selected from six states in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria for full population enumeration while forty-five (45) EAs shall be selected each from the remaining thirty States and the FCT.
In total, Almu-Banye said 7,468 enumerated areas (EAs) have been selected for the trial census to test run their suitability and readiness for the actual census.
For the northwest zone, Daura LGA of Katsina State was selected for the full population enumeration, Almu-Banye noted.
The Federal Commissioner however noted that “the quality of the personnel for the census has a great impact on its outcome. Hence, the need to properly train the facilitators who will in turn train the supervisors and the enumerators at the state level cannot be overemphasized.”
Almu-Banye further noted that in the bid to truly deliver a scientific trial census capable of preparing the ground for a credible and acceptable census next year, there is need to re-evaluate the skills and practical demonstrations of participants at the Zonal Workshops.
To that effect, Almu-Banye said the Commission “will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the trial census is carried out meticulously, professionally and scientifically to provide a good foundation for the smooth conduct of the 2023 Population and Housing Census. “
