By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s first census in 17 years will no longer hold as scheduled from March 29 to April 2 as the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has moved the count to May 2023.
This is as it approved N2.8 billion for the procurement of software for the National Population Commission (NPC) at yesterday’s meeting presided by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking after the meeting, the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, disclosed that the 2023 population and housing census earlier scheduled for this month had been shifted by two months.
He explained that the decision was necessitated by the rescheduling of the governorship elections from March 11 to March 18.
The census was initially targeted for 2021, but Nigerian authorities postponed the process on the grounds of widespread insecurity, especially in the north, where an Islamist insurgency and kidnappings for ransom have been raging.
Nigeria’s estimated population is more than 200 million, and the United Nations expects that to double by 2050. That would make Nigeria the world’s third most populous country, overtaking the United States but far behind China and India.
He also revealed that FEC had approved the Nigeria Agenda 2050, a plan aimed at increasing real GDP growth by seven per cent, creating N165 million in new jobs and reducing the number of people living in poverty to 2.1 million in 2050.
This is coming about 29 months after President Buhari inaugurated the National Steering Committee for the preparation of the Medium-Term National Development Plan 2021 to 2025 and Nigeria Agenda 2050.
The overall objective is to take Nigeria through to an Upper Middle-Income Country and subsequently to the status of a High-Income country by 2050.
Modupe Gbadeyanka