By Theresa Igarra
Over N300 billion worth of technical equipment and accessories procured by the National Population Commission (NPC) for the botched 2023 census may go to waste if the Federal Government fails to direct the NPC to conduct the twice postponed national headcount with immediate effect.
Investigations showed that the census materials supplied to the NPC over a year ago and delivered nationwide in readiness for the 2023 census have continued to gather dust in facilities of the NPC in 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
A senior officer at NPC confided in our reporter that the contractors were put under pressure to meet deadlines allotted to them which they did, but regretted that after the technical equipment were supplied and trainings conducted, the census was postponed.
President Muhammadu Buhari had wanted to ensure the conduct of the population and housing census as one of his legacy projects before leaving office, but for reasons, chief of which was the transitional plans to a new government which culminated in the 2023 general elections, the census was postponed.
Recall that President Buhari in preparation for the census had dubbed it the nation’s first ever ‘digital census’ because of the heavy deployment of technology to organise what many believed would be the most credible census in the country’s annals.
Technical evaluation indicates that most of the equipment may go bad due to humidity and lack of use as they may not have been stored in the best conditions that would guarantee their durability and effectiveness over a long period.
Some devices, namely laptops and other handhelds, have been known to malfunction when stored in a humid environment on account of heat and poor aeration.
Inquiries at NPC offices showed that some of the equipment procured for the census, some of which have not been fully paid for, but supplied, include tablets, batteries, power-banks and medical first aid materials.
It was gathered that the NPC is still owing suppliers about N50 billion over one year after the census materials were supplied.
While some of the first aid materials could expire before any new census date is fixed, the motherboards inside the tablets could go bad if the humidity in the storage facilities exceed certain threshold, experts say.
Opinion poll conducted by our reporters across the nation showed that Nigerians strongly desire to have accurate census figure and credible demographics about their country as many said they have no confidence in the estimated figure being quoted in the last 18 years. Nigeria had her last census in 2006.
Respondents in the poll want President Bola Tinubu to make the conduct of the ‘digital census’ a priority of his government as both indigenous and international investors are worried about the lack of reliable data on Nigeria.
An engineer at Zinox Technologies, one of the major suppliers of the equipment, Mr. Andrew Omeje, said the possibility of the equipment going bad is very high.
He explained that the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) which is the tablet to be used in the population and housing census has a shelf-life of about three years which is the shelf-life of tablets but adds that this may be compromised when they are not stored in appropriate environmental conditions.
According to him, tablets are not designed to last for many years, like laptops and desktops because of their low processing power and difficult upgradability.
