The National Population Commission (NPC) has cautioned Nigerians against falling victim to a fraudulent website falsely claiming to be recruiting Ad-hoc staff for the 2025 Population and Housing Census.

In a statement issued by the Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Erelu Taibat Yemi Oloruntoba, the NPC clarified that no recruitment process is currently underway and urged the public to disregard the misleading information.

“The attention of the National Population Commission has been drawn to a fake website, https://qpetition.org/NPC-Ad-Hoc-Staff-Recruitment.html, created by some mischief makers concerning the purported recruitment for the 2025 Population and Housing Census with the intention to defraud unsuspecting citizens,” the statement read.

The Commission emphasized that the recruitment of Ad-hoc staff for the census exercise will only commence once President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sets an official date for the census.

The NPC assured Nigerians that any legitimate recruitment process will be formally announced through national media channels, the Commission’s social media platforms, and its official website.

“Whenever Mr. President fixes a date for the conduct of the upcoming Population and Housing Census and the Commission wants to recruit Ad-hoc staff for the census exercise, it will be announced on national media and the NPC social media platforms and website,” the statement reiterated.

Oloruntoba urged Nigerians to remain vigilant and avoid falling prey to online scams, warning against engaging with the fraudulent website.

“We implore the general public to disregard the fake website and its false information trending online to avoid falling victim to swindlers,” she said.

The NPC called on the public to verify all information regarding the census through its official communication channels to prevent being misled by fraudsters.

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By Seyi Gesinde

Nigeria, a country with a large population of over 200 million people needs the establishment of a formidable database to support efficient governance, service delivery, national security, economic planning, social welfare, and data-driven decision-making.

Such a database ensures that the diverse needs of the population are met effectively and helps in achieving sustainable development and progress. However, the country also needs service and solution providers to help in the creation of tools needed for data gathering and collation in different sectors of the economy.

One such private solutionist and a value-added provider who teamed up with the Federal Government’s agencies to solve a big problem in digitalising all civil registrations in Nigeria such as birth registration, stillbirth registration, birth attestation, adoption, marriage notification, divorce notification, migration and death, among others is Adebayo Bankole, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Barnksforte Technologies Limited, an indigenous company committed to technology solution development and implementation in Nigeria, Africa and internationally.

In November 2023, the Federal Government of Nigeria launched an electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System (e-CRVS) and Geospatial Data Repository, as it aims to accelerate the improved civil registration and vital statistics systems in Nigeria over 10 years, from 2023 to 2030 in a bid to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal.

The National Population Commission (NPC) had collaborated with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to develop the eCRVS Operational Readiness Assessment Report which showed the potential of digital technologies in providing transformative outcomes in CRVS and integrating data from multiple systems to securely store data at scale, in a cost-effective way in Nigeria.

But to make this a reality, the NPC Chairman, Nasir Kwarra, made a bold step in developing a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement between his Commission and Barnksforte Technologies Limited, to power a transformative innovation of the eCRVS, developing the VitalReg application to attain the digital registration goal and it is accessible to every Nigerian online user.

Similarly, the Federal Government, earlier in September 2023, launched a Self-Service Enrolment System for the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), in a bid to make the National Identity Number (NIN) accessible to Nigerians, also powered by Banksforte Limited.

As these online services have since been launched for the general benefit of Nigerians, this process marks an end and a complete departure from traditional paper-based recording of vital events to a state-of-the-art digital solution that conforms to international best practices. Now, the e-CRVS has brought a revolution to how vital events are recorded, tracked, and analysed in Nigeria.

Speaking during the NIMC launch, Bankole, a passionate business leader, political strategist, and negotiator with over 20 years of experience in software development and revenue management, said the VitalReg App developed would help ease the bottlenecks of data gathering among the Nigerian populace, even that Nigerians in rural areas can access the app nationwide.

Bankole said necessary measures had been put in place to ensure the security and protection of data while using the self-service system saying, besides being seamless, the cost of using the self-service system was minimal. “It is cost-effective compared to foreign technologies.” He said anyone with a smartphone can access the service, register and put in their data for approval.

The milestone achievement for seamless documentation by the National Population Commission (NPC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) with the VitalReg app powered by Barnksforte, plays a crucial role in efficiently capturing and managing vital information and demographic data in the country.

While his contribution has increased efficiency in the registration process, the VitalReg application has brought about significant improvements in the registration process for Nigerians, especially since it has reduced paperwork, eliminated redundancies, accelerated the overall registration timeline, and streamlined workflow, benefiting both the citizens and the government agencies involved.

The possibility of integrating the app with NPC and NIMC systems will enable seamless data sharing and improved coordination between the two agencies responsible for population registration and national identity database in Nigeria, while also facilitating the creation of a centralized database of registered Nigerians, enhancing data accuracy and reliability.

The facility provided, as explained by Bankole, has also helped in enhancing data security and privacy within the VitalReg application with robust security measures to safeguard the sensitive information of Nigerians, preventing unauthorized access and potential data breaches. This commitment to data protection will instil confidence among citizens registering through the web application.

In essence, as a patriotic Nigerian youth and tech expert, Bankole’s achievements as the Managing Director of Barnksforte Limited have significantly contributed to the successful implementation of the VitalReg web application for the registration of Nigerians by NPC and NIMC. His leadership, technical expertise, and commitment to innovation have played a crucial role in empowering citizens and establishing an efficient and reliable registration system in Nigeria.

The competence displayed with the VitalReg web application is good as a model for the development of a centralised database system as the official Nigeria’s centralized databank.

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TECHDIGEST – President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Abuja said deployment of digital technology in the 2023 National Population and Housing Census will ensure effectiveness and more accuracy in the figures, while noting that Nigeria could rank third largest in the world by 2050, after China and India.

Speaking at the national stakeholders’ summit on the 2023 Population and Housing Census held at the State House, President Buhari said a “reliable, credible, acceptable and successful census’’ will help government in planning purpose for development, especially in bolstering the social security programme that targets more vulnerable Nigerians.

“The country’s inability to conduct a population census in the last 16 years has created an information vacuum as the data from the last census conducted in 2006 has been rendered out of date for planning purposes. It has therefore become imperative for the nation to conduct another national census to produce a new set of demographic and socio-economic data that will provide the basis for national planning and sustainable development.

“Population is a critical factor in a nation’s efforts toward achieving sustainable development. People are both the agents and beneficiaries of the development process. Knowledge of the national population in terms of size, distribution and socio-economic characteristics is required for planning purposes. This, therefore, makes the conduct of census an essential governance activity.

“With a projected population of 216,783,381, Nigeria is the sixth most populous country in the world and the most populous country on the African continent. Due to the rapidly growing nature of the population and large proportion of the youthful population, Nigeria is also projected to be the third most populous country in the World by the year 2050 after India and China,’’ he said.

Despite Nigeria’s high-ranking position on the global demographic map, the President said its population censuses had been conducted irregularly and at intervals, longer than the United Nations recommended 10 years.

“This irregular and long interval of census taking in Nigeria, has denied the nation the huge benefits of comprehensive baseline data for evidence-based decision-making.

“Since our assumption of office in 2015, our administration has introduced several poverty reduction and youth empowerment programmes, which are making concrete improvements in the living standards of our people. There is a need to ensure that further implementation of these programmes will be driven by the 2023 Census data that will improve the implementation of programmes targeting vulnerable populations and ensuring as widespread coverage as possible.

“The nation requires a new data set to drive the implementation of the recently launched revised National Policy on Population for Sustainable Development and other government policies. The 2023 Census data is also needed to tackle the security challenges bedevilling the country as it will give an overview of the population, where we are and who we are,’’ he added.

President Buhari called for support of stakeholders, which include State Governments, Local Government Councils, Traditional and Religious Institutions, Civil Society Organizations, Private Sectors, media, Development Partners, Donor Agencies and the general populace for the successful conduct of the 2023 Census.

“Ordinarily, conducting a population census is a routine national event that is the ultimate responsibility of every national government. Census taking cannot be left to the National Population Commission alone,’’ he said.

President Buhari noted that the government would appreciate all support from donors, development partners and the international community in order to ensure that the Commission conducts a census that would be transparent, credible and meet national and international standard.

“Our Administration is convinced that the National Population Commission has the commitment and capacity to deliver to the nation a reliable, credible, acceptable and successful census. We are also satisfied with the deployment of technology by the Commission to ensure the conduct of the first fully digital census in Nigeria as the census methodology will enhance the data quality, inspire the confidence of the Nigerian people and acceptability of the census results.’’

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TECHDIGEST- The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) and the National Population Commission (NPC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to adopt a modern and standardised Postcode that will assist security agencies in Nigeria in responding faster to emergencies, reducing banditry, kidnapping, internet scams, and other crimes.

Postmaster General, Dr. Ismail Adebayo Adewusi made this known while briefing journalists in Abuja. According to him, the digitalized postcode will also make doing business easier and will foster an effective healthcare delivery system, among other things.

“The current effort is aimed at transitioning the system to a digital platform to create more efficiency and functionality,” he explained. Without a doubt, such an advanced addressing system will promote the proper operation of more than just the postal sector. It is a critical infrastructure for achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which include poverty reduction, disease control, and the provision of basic services like water and electricity. It is still an important piece of national infrastructure, particularly in a developing country like ours where the lack of street names and property numbering makes it difficult to meet public and business expectations.

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“The relentless drive to use new technologies and latest digital solutions to manage operations more efficiently, at lower cost, increased productivity, and better service quality is a major challenge for managers, particularly in a large and complex networked industry that delivers a wide range of products and services.

“Key benefits of the postcode system include: improved mail sorting, delivery, and postal services; improved response to emergencies by security agencies, reducing crimes such as banditry, kidnapping, and Internet scams.

Adewusi also stated that the collaboration between NIPOST and NPC has resulted in his organization’s participation in the updating of the Federal Capital Territory’s (FCT) Enumeration Area Delineation (EAD), with the goal of gaining a better appreciation of the use of satellite imagery and maps to generate field data, which has proven useful in the Postcode’s further development.

Also speaking, NPC Chairman Mr. Nasir expressed the Commission’s support for the initiative and added that the data collected by the NPC over the years, will assist NIPOST in executing the new project.

“Today, Nigeria like many other African countries lacks a proper addressing system and the country loses out on its economic, social and many other salient advantages considering its population. This gap has to be bridged by creating the much needed state of the art delivery services to the general public within the country, as such the importance of this project cannot be overemphasized.

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TECHDIGEST – The Executive Chairman, National Population Commission (NPC), Alhaji Nasir Isa Kwarra, has assured that Nigeria will get its first credible census with reliable, quality data through the adoption of digital census technology.

The 2022 Census will be Nigeria’s first Digital Census and will change how the census is being conducted in Nigeria before now. This approach started with the demarcation of enumeration areas covering the entire territorial space of Nigeria using mobile handheld device and geographic information systems (GIS) and satellite imageries to create the digital census maps.

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The digital frame produced is a major tool for the planning of human and material resources for the Census. This determines the enumerators’ assignment areas and forms a basis for distribution of materials during the census.

The NPC had in February announced, inauguration of a Technical Working Group for the 2022 census.. The group is charged with delivering the first digital census to the country.

“This new approach will no doubt enhance the credibility of the process by eliminating double enumeration of respondents and improve the accuracy of the census result and the acceptability of the census outcome both locally and internationally,” said Kwarra.

” To meet the data needs of end-users and ensuring robust population quality for national transformation and global competitiveness, we must all work assiduously to achieve these goals.”

The NPC is statutorily empowered to collect, analyze and disseminate population and demographic data in the country. It is also mandated to undertake demographic sample surveys, compile, collate and publish migration and civil registration statistics as well as monitor the country’s population policy.

“We have the map data in our system androids which, unlike the analogue era will make it very easy for a reliable and credible census,” said Kwarra.

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