Okoko: Manipulating census results dates back to colonial era





What do you make of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara’s call for the postponement of the forthcoming census till after the 2019 general election?
The speaker, I am sorry is missing the point. Whether it is done now or after the elections, we will not be able to get accurate census figure in this country because there are people who are ready to manipulate the exercise for their own selfish interest, and to extend their fictitious dominance of a group over others. So, it is irrelevant whether it is done before the election, or after the election.
So long as we have this kind of dominance mentality, and political elites that are hell bent on manipulating the census for a particular ethnic group, we will not have an accurate census figure in this country. Census figures in this country have never been transparent, therefore, they have always fallen far short of expectations since they do not reflect the reality on ground. On this note I would say, whether it is done today or tomorrow, it will still produce the same outcome. Until Nigerians learn to play by the rules, and be honest enough to carry out a credible census when its time to do so, it will still yield the same faulty and manipulated result. This is the https://editor.guardian.ng/wp-admin/post-new.php#edit_timestampsame thing that has been happening to elections in the country over time, including the 2015 general election, which was also rigged.
The point I am trying to make therefore is that so long as the system remains unstructured, we will continue to get fake census results just as we have fake election results. So, Yakubu Dogara is just wasting his time making irrelevant comments and not facing the truth, or not wanting to face the truth. The truth of the matter is that census in Nigeria is not designed for the economic advancement of the country. So, let the Speaker know that whether we do it before or after the general elections, the result will not be acceptable.
Why would any group want to manipulate a process, which outcome is considered pivotal to national planning?
Political elites don’t think along those lines; they don’t see accurate census results as facilitating factors for national planning. All they see is the more you are in number, the greater your voting strength, and of course, the greater the share of monthly allocation to you from the Federation Account. For example, that is why we have 44 local councils in Kano State, when we know that the population in that state is smaller than that of Lagos State. So, it is the same sad, corrupt system that has kept us in this messy census limbo. It is really unfortunate.
It appears accurate census results have eluded the country since the colonial era?
In the colonial period, census was manipulated to favour the North, and in the post-colonial period, they still want to maintain the imbalance in the figure between the North and the South. That has always been the case. The reason why there are more states in the North than in the South for example, is based on the argument that the population there is more than what obtains in the South. In other words, we have been perpetuating the wrongs of the colonial and indeed post colonial periods in the census exercise. And those who have benefitted from this injustice will ensure its continued existence.
How can this be corrected? The only way to solve this problem as far as I am concerned is to restructure this country, and put in place, a true federal system of government, using the regions, and not the vassal states as the federating units. If this happens, we would have solved that hydra-headed problem because every region will be responsible for its accelerated growth and development. So it does not matter whether you have 10 or 100 local councils. Once this happens, compromising census results will no longer arise, as every region would control its resources and develop at their pace. Until we put in place, a true federal system, we will continue to get this bastardised census figures, as well as compromised election results.


POSTED BY:OPUOMONI PRIYE
DATE:05/20/2017

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