Senator Victor Umeh, OFR
Senator Victor Umeh, Chairman, Senate Committee on National Identity and Population, has highlighted the need for the Federal Government to expedite action on the conduct of the Population and Housing Census.
He emphasised that without a national census, Nigeria would continue to grope in the dark in her planning and development. Senator Umeh said this in Abuja at the launch of the 2025 State of the World Population Report.
He said that the conduct of the national census was imperative, as it would enable the government to know the exact number of Nigeria’s population, the number of the unemployed, population distribution, among others. The Senator, representing Anambra Central Senatorial District, said national planning and development would be easier with a national census.
“Today, nobody knows the actual population of Nigeria. We are just using estimates. Some people say we are 200 million people, others say we are 220 million people, while some others say we are about 230 million people. These are projections. And that is why there is no alternative to having a national census,” according to him.
He pledged that the National Assembly was irrevocably committed to ensuring that the Population and Housing Census is conducted soon. He called on the members of the National Assembly to resist the urge to legislate the number of children each Nigerian couple should give birth to.
Speaking on the State of the World Population, Umeh explained that it is very difficult to regulate birth, adding that emphasis should be given on sex education among adolescent girls to control the birth rate.
