Ahead of the 2023 National Census the National Population Commission (NPC) has trained journalists in Plateau State on effective reportage.
The Federal commissioner NPC, Plateau State, Mrs. Cecilia Dapoet who declared open on Monday the one-day capacity building workshop for Journalists on effective reporting of the 2023 population and housing census, held in Jos said Journalists will be equipped with the requisite information to enlighten the public on the exercise.
Represented by the State Director, NPC, Mr. Pam Deme, said the media had an important responsibility to begin the publicity campaign in order to properly educate and enlighten Nigerians on the need to support the successful conduct of the census especially as it was taking place immediately after the general elections.
“This capacity-building workshop for journalists in the state is very important because we cannot achieve this very big task without the media educating the public on the role they will play.
“The aim is to train journalists on the effective ways to report and effectively enlighten the public on the exercise.
“This training will also equip the media on how to properly enlighten the public on the difference between election and census taking and also improve the quality of media content.
“The aim is to neutralize the negative prejudices and misrepresentation of the census exercise which most Nigerians carry.
“It also underscores the determination of the commission to effectively mobilize Nigerians for the 2023 census,” she said.
The State Director, Pam Deme in a paper presentation, titled, processes and methodology of the 2023 population census, said that the 2023 population and housing census would leverage a full digital methodology with the use of mobile application devices.
Deme added that there was a shift in the method of census taking which implies a change in how data on population and housing information are to be captured.
The Public Relations Officer and a facilitator at the workshop, Mr. Jick Lawrence who presented a paper on “Enumeration Area Demarcation and Mapping for the 2023 Census” and “How to generate media Content on the 2023 population and housing census” assured that the commission has taken drastic steps to conduct a perfect exercise.
Plateau State chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Mr. Paul Jatau, in a remark, lauded the commission for including journalists in reporting the census, stating that the media in the state would ensure that the exercise was reported accurately and the public enlightened.
Also, the state chairperson, of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) Mrs. Nene Dung, stressed the need for government to use the data of women, children, and the vulnerable during the census to get data on how to improve on the total women inclusion in governance.
Dung regretted that women were always left behind in spite of them representing a large percentage of the population while hoping that the outcome of the census would lead to the desired change.