THE URGENT NEED FOR POPULATION CENSUS

THE URGENT NEED FOR POPULATION CENSUS

The United Nations defines a population census as the total process of collecting, compiling and publishing demographic, economic and social data pertaining to a specific time to all persons in a country or delimited part of a country. Census features information to worgg, age sex, marital status, household composition, family characteristics e.t.c.

Information is also collected on economic measures including labour force, occupation place of work educational attainment.

The importance of population census can't be overemphasize. This is premised on the fact that data from population census are the bases for economic, social and industrial planning. A population census is at the centre of every planning activity and no meaningful development can be reached without taking into account data from census.

Consequently, population census helps in knowing the size of the population. A census is helpful in finding out the number of people habiying the country and inform any changes in demography and the nature of the change. This information reveal the level of manpower, that is people and those under employed. With the aforesaid, census plays an essential role in giving detailed information on the population density. The information obtained from this exercise aid the government in equitable distribution of resources, allocation of political seats,citing of social amenities.

However, despite all these benefits of conducting population census. Nigeria is the most populous black nation on earth, conducted her last population census sixteen (16) years ago . This had created a vacuum as data from the last census conducted in 2006 is out dated and rendered useless in planning any meaningful development. It is therefore expedient for the natii to conduct another census. 

The need for an accurate, reliable population census in Nigeria cannot be over emplasized. This concern has become of even greater significance on the face of the dynamics of modern day socio- economic plannt both at the macro and micro levels. In Nigeria, planning for socio economic development has been largely affected by the in adequacy, obsolescence and unreliability of available data.

The implications of not conducting another population census is too grievous to ignore, one of such is the insecurity bedweling the country. A proper census and demographic data will help security agents to know those in a country and what they do. Crime and criminalities would have been fought better if the government have a comprehensive data of those within the boundary of the country.

In addition to the above, another severe consequence of the failure to conduct population census is the inability of the revenue agencies of the government like FIRS to generate fund through tax. Since population census include some economics data, it would have helped the government to determine who pay tax appropriately.

However, lacks of data means too many people are not capture in the tax net, hereby making the government lose billions of naira.

The problem of double taxation is also signs of proper relaible days from census. Importers, traders and manufacturers are tax multiple times on a product, these taxes are pushed down to the final consumers. This mean that lack of proper census could increase the prices of goods, hence, it promotes inflation.

In Conclusion, Nigeria as a country loses alot from not conducting population census, on the flip side she stands to gain a lot from a proper census.

DANMOLA SHAFIQAH TITILAYO