An elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, says lack of data on Nigeria’s population is causing a major in the country, especially, in the area of planning.
He urged the federal government to intensify efforts towards having accurate data of all activities.
He spoke in Abuja yesterday when the management of the National Population Commission (NPC) visited him.
He said: “Now is the time for Nigerians to exercise their civic duty. Let’s know ourselves. Let’s know the number of houses we have in Nigeria. Then, we’ll be able to plan because without the knowledge of population, we can’t plan. This won’t enable the government to know the number of schools to build.
“I want to know from NNPC what is the real quantity of oil being exported from this country. How much of the refined is brought back to Nigeria? How many vehicles do we have in Nigeria today? Nobody knows.”
Chairman, NPC, Nasir Isa Kwarra, promised that the census would be free from politics, ethnic and religious sentiments.