Chairman of Nigeria’s National Population Commission (NPC) Nasir Kwarra on Tuesday December 8, announced that the country’s population figure is now estimated at 206 million.
The NPC Chairman who spoke to newsmen in Abuja on the commencement of the next Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD), noted that Nigeria had not been able to hold a census in the last 14 years.
Kwarra said the figure was arrived with projections as the exact population cannot be known without a census. With a population of 206 million, it means Nigeria’s population increased by 8 million in two years.
He said: “In the absence of an actual census, we formally do projections and we have all along been doing our projections and we estimate that as of 2020, the estimated population of Nigeria is 206 million.
“Planning for the census is anchored on the EAD as the basis for estimating both the human and material resources required for the census. In essence, the success of a credible and accurate census depends very much on the quality and reliability of the EAD.”
Kwarra further explained that the EAD exercise is not the enumeration of persons living in the country but a preparatory exercise before the census. He said the NPC would be assisting the Independent National Electoral Commission to create digitised maps of INEC registration areas for the first time as part of the EAD.
“It is important to state that the latest technology is being deployed for this EAD exercise, including the use of very high-resolution satellite imageries as the base map, the use of GPS for georeferencing and the use of GIS for data management.
“Also, personal data assistants (handheld devices/tablets) that include computer software for population estimation are being used for data capture.”