Census 2005: Phase One Enumeration Area Demarcation Ends Today
From Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
Ahead of the November 2005 National Census, National Population Commission (NPC) would today conclude the Phase one of the Enumeration Demarcation Exercise (EAD), which began on July 1 in seven selected local government ouncils, each drawn from the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The affected local governments included Ukwa East (Abia), Brass (Bayelsa), Ifo (Ogun), Jada (Adamawa), Bokkos (Plateau), Shagari (Sokoto) and Abuja Municipal Area Council (FCT).
During exercise, the commission carried out demarcation of the areas into smaller units with population of 250 - 500 people for easier coverage by the census enumerators.
Speaking in an interview with THISDAY, the commission's spokesperson and Assistant Director Public Affairs, Hajiya Fati Kadiri, said the 2nd phase is expected to commence on September 1 and would cover one local government each of the 36 states and the FCT.
According to her, this would be followed by the 3rd and final stage of the EAD on January 1, 2005 to cover the remaining 731 local government areas.
Meanwhile, NPC has justified its decision to seek for fresh inputs and assistance in the supply of maps and high-resolution satellite imageries from interested members of the public, saying such measure became necessary because of the inability of the Federal and State Survey Departments to meet its demands.
Clarifying the commission's action during a courtesy call by members of the Transition Monitoring Group to his office, NPC chairman, Chief Samu'ila Danko Makama, noted that the body had in the past attempted to procure maps from the Federal and State Surveys Department without much success.
"Some of the maps are either out-dated or do not even exit at all. It is the maps that could not be procured through the Surveys Department that NPC seeks to source through public tenders," she said.
He said the maps are meant to facilitate the enumeration areas demarcation for the 2005 Census, adding that "maps are required in order to ensure no locality is left out in the demarcation exercise and there is no overlap or omission."
NPC boss further stated that in line with the Federal Government's guidelines on contracts, the commission is adopting due process, which means that the whole process must be through competitive and open tendering.
"I wish to assure Nigerians that whoever will be finally selected to procure the maps would have the technical and managerial capabilities to carry out the task," he said.
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