Daji Sani in Yola
The National Population Commission (NPC) has trained over 30 journalists on effective reporting of the 2023 population and housing census in Adamawa State.
While speaking at the one-day capacity building workshop held at the conference hall of the Federal Secretariat in Yola yesterday for journalists, the Federal Commissioner of NPC, Dr. Clifford Zirra, said the media is integral to the sensitisation of the masses, therefore, this necessitated the training for journalists.
He said the workshop was also meant to create the NPC Adamawa State Population Correspondents in preparation for the 2023 population and housing census with the theme: ‘Getting the people involved’.
According to the commissioner, “There is no gainsaying that any organisation that thrives to achieve success must constantly convey information to all its stakeholders of which the media is important in order to secure their cooperation and support.
“For a people-oriented organisation such as the NPC, constant and effective engagement with the media is a crucial first step; it must take in the attainment of its constitutional mandate of generating data for national planning.
“With the approval of the president for the conduct of the next population and housing census from March 29 to April 2, 2023, the new date for head counts, preparations are in top gear for the successful implementation of the census projects.”
He further explained that census is a national event, and is the responsibility of every citizen to participate by presenting themselves to be counted, adding that the commission will no doubt need the support of all stakeholders to deliver to the country a credible and reliable data so that it can be used for sustainable development planning.
Zirra added that the overarching goal of the workshop “was to share with you the vision of the commission and draw on your support to ensure broad-based state cooperation for the implementation of the activities of the NPC, especially the coming 2023 census.”
