AMILOADED MEDIA HUB NEWS UPDATE
The commencement of the 2023 national housing and population census, earlier slated for March 29, is likely to be affected by the postponement of the governorship and state assembly elections.
This was made known by the Chairman of the National Population Commission, Nasir Kwarra, while speaking at a meeting with the resident representative of the United Nations Population Fund in Abuja.
The state elections, which were earlier scheduled to hold on March 11, have now been scheduled for March 18 by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Although no specific date is fixed for the commencement of the exercise, Kwarra told reporters that he will consult with President Muhammadu Buhari for a suitable date for the national census.
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NIGERIAN NATIONAL CENSUS : A CALL TO CONSIDER RAMADAN PERIOD
The first census was ordered by Prophet Muhammad (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) to assess the numbers of the Muslims for defensive purposes in a Hadith found in both Bukhari and Muslim with differing wording, the Companion Hudhayfa (Allah be pleased with him) said:
“We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) when he said, ‘Count for me how many people profess Islam.’ So we asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, are you afraid for us, while we are between 600 and 700 strong in number?’ He replied, ‘You never know, perhaps you may be faced with tribulations…” [Muslim]
In lieu of the above assertion, Muslims are enjoined to participate in the forthcoming national census wholeheartedly because of some benefits attached to it.
More importantly, the date slated for the national census which is from *29th March to 2nd April, 2023* falls in the month of Ramadan, the month of compulsory fasting for Muslims; and it will commence between *23rd and 24th March, 2023* inshaa Allah.
On the stated date for the census, some Muslims may not be able to participate because of severity of the scorching sun tantamount to egregious heat at that time expecially in the Northern part of Nigeria. And the Muslims in the Southern part may not committedly participate because some will be busy with Ramadan activities as well. The Muslims among the census officials too would not be comfortable to do the necessary things because of the unfavorable situation.
The questionnaires for the census excercise are more than sixty, and every member of each household must answer the questions accordingly which would be troublesome for a fasting person to answer conveniently.
Some Muslim women may not attend to the census officials as expected
because they will be busy preparing food for break fast ( iftaar) for their families.
Financially, what the Government will spend on this excercise is more exorbitant than wasting such precious resources and get inaccurate results due to uncomfortable period fixed for the national census. We wish the Government to get the accurate results when spending #869 billion as budgeted for the national census according to the Premium Times Newspaper posted on March 7, 2023.
On this note, we appeal to the Federal Government, His Excellency, President Muhammad Buhari in particular to please review the date and possibly reschedule the census excercise till after Ramadan which could be last week of April 2023.
While appreciating the Federal Government in advance for considering the Muslims’ concern, we wish us a peaceful, successful and productive national census in Nigeria.
By: Dr. Tajudeen Abefe Oladejo
General Secretary, Ansar Huda Islamic Organisation, Iwo, Osun State, Nigeria
08065953463
Thank you for the update