From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
Osun State Government on Monday inaugurated an inter-ministerial committee for the year 2023 National Population and Housing Census.
Secretary of the State Government, Teslim Igbalaye, inaugurated the committee at the Exco Lounge, Governor’s Office, Abere.
A statement by the press secretary to the SSG, Opeyemi Bello, stated that all relevant agencies will be fully involved in the planning and execution of the census to ensure its success.
Igbalaye who noted that the state was under-represented in the figures published for the 1991 National Population Census said the committee was put together to ensure that facts and figures about the state are correctly compiled during the coming census.
He stressed that information on the size, distribution, and characteristics of a country’s population is essential for describing and assessing its economic, social, and demographic circumstances as well as for developing sound policies and programmes aimed at fostering the welfare of a country and its population.
He, therefore, encouraged members of the committee to work out appropriate sensitization and mobilization strategies about the activities of the National Population and Housing Census Exercise and organize advocacy and sensitization programmes for Local Government functionaries, the media, and NGOs, on population and related issues.
In his remark, the Statistician General, Bureau of Statistics, Osun State, Mr. Abiodun Ijidele, who is also the secretary of the committee appreciates the state government for the proactive steps to ensure that the outcome of the 2023 census reflects the actual number of people living in the state, unlike 1991 census.