The Governor of Niger State, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, has said that the ongoing national registration of Nigerians will be the best way of making the country to know its exact population.
Aliyu, however, said this will only be possible if the exercise is well handled.
Aliyu also said that the Identity card programme will afford the country to know the quality of its population and plan what to do with whatever deficit may have been discovered.
He spoke in Minna on Tuesday after being the ‘first Governor’ in the country to be enrolled into the data base of the National Identification Management Commission.
Describing the identity card scheme as a “perpetual project”, Governor Aliyu declared: “It will enable us to know the quality of our education and what we are going to do about the deficit.
“This is the best way to know how the population is growing, especially when most states complained about the last census exercise, making them to go to court.
“National identity card is important for both the person and the country.
“It can be used for other purposes than personal identification.
“We will collaborate effectively with it to ensure everybody in the state is registered and issued with their identity cards and subsequently set up a committee of five to monitor the exercise in the state.”
The Committee members are the Secretary to the state Government, the Chief of Staff Government House, the Commissioner for Information, the Commissioner for Youth and that of local government.
Earlier the Director of Operations of the NIMC, Abuja, Cecilia Yahaya, had told the governor after he was registered, that the Federal Government has set December 2014 target for all Nigerians to be registered.
According to Yahaya: “Government is contemplating sanctioning Nigerians that do not have the identity card.”
She added that among the sanctions will be lack of access to public facilities.
To meet the deadline, Yahaya the Commission has deployed its equipment to all the 25 local government areas of the state, adding that the equipment are being operated by well trained personnel.
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