Census: Islamic forum wants new dates over Ramadan

The Islamic Forum of Nigeria has called for new dates for the conduct of this year’s national census.

The National Population Commission (NPC) has fixed March 29 to April 1, for the exercise.

However, in a statement on Sunday, the Executive Secretary of the forum, Prof Salisu Shehu, noted that the dates coincided with the month of Ramadan when Muslims worldwide would be observing their obligatory fasting.

He said, “The exercise as it were is always a very rigorous one involving travels across the entire regions of this our great country.

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“Ad hoc staff, as is usually the case, can be posted to any part of the country and indeed to very remote places far away from their places of origin. In this regard, the Islamic Forum of Nigeria has certain very serious concerns principally over the timing for the conduct of the exercise.”

He added that Muslims among the staff involved and the people to be enumerated would find it difficult to cope with the hardship that might be occasioned by travels over long distances and the actual rigours of the exercise.

He further said, “Considering the ongoing difficulty in the new bank notes scarcity, coupled with staying at home for five days during the exercise, Nigerians will definitely face more difficulties that need to be considered by the NPC.

“That generally, Muslims, especially those that will travel to remote non-Muslim areas, will not even find the convenience and the conducive environment to observe their spiritual duties in Ramadan, like tarawih prayers at night, the sahur and iftar, tafseer, etc.”

He, therefore, urged the federal government to consider the plight of an estimated 120 million Muslims that would be observing the fasting and prevail on the NPC to postpone the exercise to a more conducive and convenient time after the Ramadan.