The National Population Commission (NPC) Abia State office has passionately appealed to the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) to sheath its sword and allow the 2023 census to be conducted uninterrupted in the South-East geo-political zone.
The Federal Commissioner of NPC in charge of Abia State, Chief Johnny Nwabuisi, who made the appeal in Umuahia yesterday, during a stakeholders summit for the 2023 National Census, argued that the earlier stance by the separatist body that no census should be held in the South-East and some parts of South-South will negate the plan by the Commission to conduct an accurate and untainted census figure in the region.
He recalled that the group, by its activities, literally frustrated the proper headcount in the South-East during the national census of 2006 and wondered how the referendum the group is demanding from the United Nations will materialise if there is no available data to conduct the referendum.
In his speech, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu described accurate census figures as the sine qua non to national cohesion, saying that for a nation to plan for enhanced development, it must have an accurate census figure of its population. The Abia governor, represented by his Chief of Staff, Chief Okey Ahaiwe, disclosed that the State government takes as a top priority the provision of adequate data for the 2023 national census exercise.
According to the governor, over the years Nigerias headcount has been immersed in controversy, prompting every national census to be disputed upon by some sections of the country, while others believe it is accurate. He, therefore, cautioned the National Population Commission against manipulating the exercise, but to ensure that next years headcount is done without bias.
In their separate comments at the event, the Chairman, Abia State Traditional Rulers Council, HRM Eze Ndubuisi Nwabeke and Abia State Director, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mrs. Ngozi Okechukwu, commended the decision to organise the exercise, saying that it will give Abia State another opportunity to be to properly counted and have an accurate census figure.
Other stakeholders that spoke at the event included: the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), etc., which also appealed to IPOB to encourage the exercise in 2023 and allow it to succeed in Abia so that the State will record its proper population figure of over 10 million inhabitants.
