The National Population Commission (NPC) says that four out of the 14 local government areas of Zamfara have been selected for the ongoing pre-test, in preparation for the National Population/Housing Census.
The NPC Federal Commissioner in-charge of Zamfara, Alhaji Muhammad Muttaka-Rini, disclosed this on Friday when he led the management and staff of the commission to supervise the exercise in some communities in Gusau LGA.
Muttaka-Rini listed the selected LGAs as: Bakura, Bungudu, Gusau and Shinkafi.
He said that the exercise would take place in 222 Enumeration Areas in 112 LGAs across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT that were demarcated during the 2016- 2018 Enumeration Areas Demarcation.
“In Zamfara, only four LGAs mentioned earlier will be involved in the exercise.
“‘They will be handled by 894 field functionaries, 44 enumerators, 37 supervisors, 37 IT supervisors, 37 field coordinators, 37 state coordinators, 37 monitors from the headquarters, 37 monitors from the state and six coordinators.
“A total number of field functionaries in Zamfara are 17, comprising one state coordinator, one field coordinator, one GIS officer, one ICT officer, one supervisor and 12 enumerators.
“The training of the trainers (TOT) had taken place from 14 April to 18 April, 2021 in Abuja.
“The zonal training followed from May 31 to June 4, 2021 in six centres namely: Abuja, Enugu, Gombe, Katsina, Asaba and Ibadan, covering all the geo-political zones in the country.”
The Federal Commissioner appealed to residents of the selected LGAs and EAs to extend maximum cooperation to the interviewers and answer all the questions they would be asked truthfully.
“All information volunteered will be treated with the utmost confidentiality and will not be divulged for any other purpose.
“I also wish to appeal to the state government, local government councils, traditional rulers, religious and community leaders to support the commission in this noble endeavour”, he said.
Muttaka-Rini commended other stakeholders, especially, the security agencies for providing equitable support and assistance to ensure that the EAD’s activity proceeds quite smoothly.