|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Experts in the information technology (IT) industry say that verifiable identification systems introduced in the country in recent times will positively impact the upcoming census exercise by curbing fraudulent spike-up in numbers of certain geographical areas in Nigeria, in order to get political advantage during general elections.
They say computerised citizen data, such as Bank Verification Number (BVN), SIM card registration, voter’s card, National Identification Numbers (NIN) and E-passports, if properly harmonised, will help ease the general census process and create reliable, wholesome census numbers in the country.
There has been a criss-cross of allegations over the decades, that the various geographical components of the polity have been manipulating census figures upwards, in order to get political avantage and a larger allocation from the national purse, than is rightly due to them.
Asked about the need for technology in Nigeria’s 2018 census exercise, John Obaro, Chief Executive Officer, Systemspecs, told BusinessDay that the allegations will continue to fly, in as much as the exercise is conducted manually, because there will always be human errors and personal interests.
“It is only with the use of technological equipments during the conduct of a national census, that Nigeria will be in a position to say that the figures are as accurate as possible.
“In this day and age, we should not even conduct a census without biometrics in the first place. We should have a well automated plan in place. People will tell you it is a very expensive exercise; we have had wild figures quoted but the beautiful thing is that the government does not need to spend a dime, if they get their thinking right, because people are waiting for the data, people and businesses will be ready to pay anything to get this data. So, all they need is just to get the type of information that is required of people and is resellable. People would rush over themselves to participate.
“Even if up front funding or some form of Public Private Partnership (PPP) is required to conduct this exercise, government would recover the money because they would have data that can help to blossom a number of businesses that understand the value of the data and they would plan effectively for various sectors of the economy,” Obaro said.
Arguments that census data is more valuable than the amount of money spent in conducting the exercise and that the use of technology can significantly reduce cost, have counteracted Eze Duruiheoma, Chairman, National Population Commission’s (NPC) claims that there is inadequate funding to conduct the 2018 national census.
In October 2016, when members of the Senate Committee on National Identity Cards and National Population Commission visited the temporary headquarters of the NPC, Duruiheoma said that out of the N4.411 billion appropriated for the agency for capital expenditure in the 2006 Appropriation Act, only N2.17 billion had been released while the NPC’s proposed funding requirements for the exercise, amounted to N222 billion: pre-census activities, N94 billion; census proper, N120 billion; and post-census activities N8 billion.
Subomi Sodipo, a technology industry analyst and CEO, CF mobile told BusinessDay that adapting new technologies such as the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) for mapping, data-processing software and using the internet as a tool for census data collection to census operations, can result in important gains in the quality and cost effectiveness of the whole census operation.
“Nigeria needs to move ahead by adopting new technologies that will help provide accurate figures during census operation because we need to plan adequately. The reason we see things working seamlessly in some countries in Europe and the United States of America, is because they know their population size, they have accurate figures and so, they can plan appropriately.
“Nobody will have the right to accuse any region or state of spiking up censors numbers if the right technological tools are used to conduct census operations in a transparent manner,” Sodipo told BusinessDay.
Although the NPC has agreed to adopt the use of biometric data technology for the upcoming population and housing census, experts say other technology tools can be adopted and the capturing of facial impression and fingerprints of all respondents, which will eliminate all forms of manipulation and give the nation accurate, reliable demographic data, must be well harmonised with data previously collected, to drive sustainable development in the country.
Apart from the quest to warehouse the profile of all Nigerians for effective national planning, the need for synergy with other data management organisations, such as the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) registration, Bank Verification Number (BVN), voters’ card etc in virtually all sectors of the economy, is of utmost importance, as this would make it easier for government to plan and channel adequate attention to areas such as education, pensions, jobs and others, analysts say.
For example, if through its database, government can know exactly how many people are currently in the workforce, they can make plans to create more jobs and have a well thought out pension/retirement scheme for the population. With the exact number of children in the country, the education sector can be planned and managed more appropriately.
In the long run, this would reduce government spending, as plans will be made, according to recorded data and there will be no wastage as a result of estimated guess work, in investing and building infrastructure.
Jumoke Akiyode
