CAN POPULATION CENSUS BRING SUCCOUR TO THE MASSES?
After the expiration of the 7 day head-count exercise (including 2-day extension) that commenced on March 21, 2005 the chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Chief Samuila Makama scored the commission 95% pass mark. Not a few Nigerians would disagree with this self-assessment. The entire exercise was marred with various irregularities and logistic problems that eventually made nonsense of the 19 billion naira project, as so many areas were left out. The first two days of the exercise, for instance, were used to pay training allowances to the enumerators while census materials were hoarded by NPC officials in some states during the exercise. In Benue state, for instance, the assistant comptroller of Ogbadibo Local Council was reportedly arrested by the police allegedly for hoarding and sales of five cartons of form 01 for one million naira (Guardian newspaper 27 Marsh, 2006). After the entire travesty, most of the enumerators whose allowances were not paid withheld the fo
