The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has urged the newly inaugurated commissioners on the board of the National Population Commission to ensure that the next census gives the nation the actual statistics of the nation’s population.
Reliable data of the nation’s population, he said, was essential to economic planning and the spread of infrastructure across the country.
Kalu, who represents Bende Federal Constituency, Abia State, also decried the continuous reference to different figures, stressing that it was time the narrative is changed for good.
A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Levinus Nwabughiogu, stated that Kalu gave the charge at the inaugural dinner of the federal commissioner representing Abia State at the NPC Board, Emmanuel Eke on Saturday in Abuja.
Eke was among the 17 appointees inaugurated by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Kalu said, “We don’t know our number in Nigeria. We cannot keep claiming we are the giant of Africa when we don’t have an accurate statistic of our actual number as a nation. It’s embarrassing! Each time they ask you of your population, you said about…When are we going to drop this ‘about,’ that descriptive thing to our number?
“You people should make it exact. When we call Ogun State, you tell us the number. We call Abia, you tell us. Total number in the South East, you give us. Total number in the South West, North West, South South, etc, you give us so that we can plan because economic planning without actual knowledge of the population is a waste of time. When you plan for a few, the infrastructure will be overused by the much you did not capture.
“The root of our economic planning is knowing our number and the demography, so that when we want to do project allocation, the spread will be guided by the population. Census is what you have to do as a service to this nation.
“Push it hard and make sure that when the result comes, Nigerians will be glad to say yes, we are 250 million but I can assure you by the time you are done, we might be 300 million because we projected that we are going to be the fourth most populous nation in the coming years and every nation in the world is looking towards Nigeria for investment because they know the market is there.”
Kalu also commended Tinubu for running an all-inclusive government, particularly the appointment of Igbo people into prominent positions despite receiving poor number of votes from the region in the 2023 presidential election.
He also expressed gratitude Ndigbo for not participating in the recent protest against the present administration over economic hardship.
The deputy speaker who stated that the hardship was not principally created by Tinubu’s government revealed that the administration is doing its best to come up with solutions to address the challenges.
Kalu also noted that the support of the Igbo nation will encourage Tinubu to assent to the South East Development Commission bill sponsored by him for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the region, adding that the President and his team are intentional about giving the South East a sense of belonging.
“This President has shown us love despite the fact that we did not vote as we ought to have voted. He has shown us great love, and it’s about time we also started reciprocating the way we support the government in words and in action.
“The President gave us Chief of Naval Staff, an Igbo man from Enugu. He gave us the Minister of Works from Ebonyi. The President came to Abia and gave us number 6 citizen of the country.
“The President gave the Chairman of Progressives Governors Forum to Imo State. The President gave a lot of Ministers from the South East opportunities to head some ministries like Science and Technology and the rest of them. The way to pay him back is to support him and make sure that we help stabilise national loyalty and increase national cohesion.
“We are working hard to ensure that most of you are strategically positioned. We are working hard to make sure that businesses owned by you are supported. What were not accessible to the Igbos before, we are pushing now for you to access them, leveraging this office (Office of the Deputy Speaker). So, let’s be patient”, Kalu added.
