By Praise Chinecherem
The National Population Commission (NPC) has urged officers involved in the ongoing training for the trial population and housing census in Anambra state to place the exercise above pecuniary gains.
The Federal Commissioner representating Anambra State in the Commission, Mr Chidi Ezeoke gave the advice while flagging off training of supervisors and enumerators involved in the exercise in seven towns in Idemili South Local Government Area of the State.
He challenged them to take the exercise seriously, in view of its expected impact on the nation’s socio-economic planning, warning that any form of compromise would not be tolerated.
He said, “What you’re embarking on is national service for Nigeria which you’re all citizens of. If the emphasis is on what you’ll get at the end of the day, then what’s the essence of what we’re doing?
“Because of the confidentiality of the programme, you’re going to take oath of secrecy. If you do anything contrary, you’re liable and would be shown the way out.”
The Anambra State Chief Magistrate, Genevieve Osakwe, while administering the oath of secrecy, underscored the importance of signing the relevant documents, noting that non-compliance rendered the documents invalid.
“If there’s any breach of the oath, you’ll face the wrath of the law. Besides, if you don’t sign the documents, I can’t append my signature, which will invariably renders the documents null and void and the owner out of the assignment,” she warned.
Earlier, State Director in the Commission, Dr. Joachim Ulasi disclosed that a total of 1,277 personnel, comprising 1,132 enumerators and 117 supervisors would be involved in the exercise.
On his part, State Coordinator for the trial census, Mutar Folomi revealed that Anambra was the only state that procured projectors in all the classes the training exercise was holding in the area.
He called for maximum cooperation from all personnel to ensure a hitchfree and successful trial census exercise.
