During a breakfast meeting with media executives and stakeholders in Ado Ekiti
By Johnson Atoukudu
The Federal Commissioner of the National Population Commission in Ekiti State, Ayodeji Ajayi, announced on Thursday that the commission has spent more than N140 billion on acquiring technology and equipment in preparation for a smooth and efficient digital population census in the country.
Ajayi mentioned that all necessary arrangements were being finalized before the postponement of the census in order to further improve the processes. He listed the equipment that was purchased, which includes Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and laptops.
During a breakfast meeting with media executives and stakeholders in Ado Ekiti, the NPC commissioner stated that the commission had invested significant human and material resources in implementing the preparatory activities for the census. Ajayi also revealed that N200 billion has been allocated to the NPC thus far for the census, with over 75% (amounting to over N140 billion) being allocated to the purchase of technology and equipment such as PDAs and laptops.
He added that a significant portion of the remaining funds was utilized for the acquisition of vehicles, training, construction/renovation of state offices, and provision of office equipment. Ajayi expressed satisfaction with the progress made on the construction of a new office complex for Ekiti State.
The NPC commissioner, who spoke in Ado Ekiti during a breakfast meeting with media executives and stakeholders, said that NPC had made all preparatory activities toward the census, said, “Conscious and enormous human and material resources that have been expended in the implementation of the preparatory activities”.
Ajayi, who said that N200 billion had been released to NPC so far for the exercise, said, “About 75 per cent (over N140billion) of the sum is for the purchase of technology and equipment such as PDAs and laptops.
“Substantial part of the remaining funds was deployed for purchase of vehicles, training and construction/renovation of state offices and provision of office equipment. I am happy that work has reached the advance stage on the construction of a new office complex for Ekiti State.
“The most important task before the commission now pending presidential proclamation is to sustain and reinforce the relevance of these activities to the successful conduct of the 2023 census. This will ensure that the nation does not have to start afresh the preparations for the conduct of the census thereby saving costs.
“In this regard, the processes and systems put in place for the census are therefore being reviewed to determine what needs to be done to ensure that the preparations do not become obsolete for Census,” Ajayi said.
The commissioner provided a list of the preparations carried out by the NPC for the upcoming census, which encompassed various activities. These activities included enumeration area demarcation, conducting first and second pretests, a trial census, e-recruitment, training a significant portion of field staff, and procuring and configuring PDAs.
Additionally, the NPC undertook other initiatives such as establishing ICT infrastructure and backup systems nationwide, forming logistic support and advocacy committees, engaging with important stakeholders, and participating in exchange programs with other African countries.
