According to the National Population Commission, Nigeria’s population growth rate has reached 3.2% based on an estimated population of 216 million.
According to NAN, Ejike Eze, the NPC Federal Commissioner representing Enugu State, made the announcement on Wednesday at a lecture hosted by the commission and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus.
He stated that Nigeria has one of the world’s fastest growing populations and that periodic censuses were essential for proper planning of development plans.
Nigeria’s inability to perform a population census in the last 17 years, he claims, has created an information vacuum.
“This is because the data from the 2006 census has become less useful for planning purposes.”
“There is also a need to ensure the implementation of poverty alleviation programmes based on current census data from 2023,” he said.
Prof. Dan Nwachukwu, Deputy Vice Chancellor of UNN Enugu Campus, commended NPC’s collaboration with IDS as “timely and appropriate” in his remarks.
Meanwhile, according to the most recent United Nations figures, Nigeria’s population is 221,448,144 people.
Remember that Nigeria suspended its 2023 census during the administration of previous President Muhammdu Buhari.
