The second phase of the Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) for the 2017 National Census began in the 29 states of the federation and Abuja on Monday with the National Population Commission (NPC) declaring that no amount of financial challenge facing the country would stop next year’s census.
The 21 day demarcation exercise will end March 14.
A Federal Commissioner in NPC and former Speaker of t.he Enugu State House of Assembly, Festus Uzor, who made this known in Enugu, blamed controversies associated with past census exercises on poor conduct of EADs.
Uzor told newsmen that “considering the fact that the 2017 Census will be biometric based, and will seek to capture the facial impression and finger prints of persons during the period, any hope of gaining advantage through manipulation of EAD will at best be an illusion that cannot be realised as only persons physically seen will be counted and their biometrics taken.”
According to him, the EAD demarcation would take place in one local government in each of the 29 states, explaining that it was “imperative to divide the whole country into small units that can be easily covered by a team of enumerators as one of the core preparatory activities for the census exercise.
He said: “The EAD constitutes the foundation on which the entire census architecture stands. As you all know the strength of a building including its finishing is dependent on how well the foundation is laid.
“It forms the basis for the planning and execution of the census project. A faulty foundation cannot produce a solid building, no matter the finishing and the decoration.”
-Vanguard
