Gov. Obaseki and Dr. Lakoju during the visit

Jethro Ibileke/Benin

Edo state Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has stressed the importance of periodic census, as it serves as document for policy formulation and economic planning.
Obaseki who said this Wednesday while playing host to the delegation from National Populations Commission (NPC), at the government House in Benin, noted that this function could not be overemphasised.
He assured the delegation of his administration’s readiness to support them effectively in Edo state’s Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) in preparation for the proposed 2018 Nigerian population census.
He therefore called on the commission to collaborate more with local government councils in the state as this would make their job easier and will enable them to get more data on deaths and births in the areas.
Meanwhile, the leader of the NPC delegation, Dr. Tunde Lakoju, who is also the Federal Commissioner, representing Edo state in the Commission, said the NPC has commenced EAD in Edo state as it prepares for the proposed population census in the country in 2018.
Lakoju said that Egor local government area of the state had been successfully demarcated while the demarcation of Esan West local government area would commence from February 20, 2017.
He said, “The demarcation exercise for the 2018 proposed population and housing census in Edo has commenced. One of our most important pre-census activities is the delineation of the country into EDAs.
“The EAD essentially serves as the foundation building blocks of the census pyramid and architecture, hence the Commission places very high premium on the exercise. In the EAD exercise, no human beings are counted, we only count and number houses and demarcate the areas using satellite images.”
According to Lakoju, the results of the EADs would be used to generate zip codes for the country and the EADs would also serve as a national frame for future censuses.
He added that the Commission had proposed the Biometric option for the census to overcome challenges of previous censuses and to guarantee accurate and reliable data.
He however solicited for the state government’s support to ensure adequate security for the demarcators and appealed to local government areas and traditional institutions to provide accommodation for field staff of the Commission while the exercise lasted.