Nigerian census over the hump
2005-02-04 16:56
Abuja - Nigeria is to use camels and donkeys to conduct a national census in some of its component states to the north later in the year, it was stated Thursday.
Aliyu Dogondaji, a National Population Commission official in Sokoto state, said camels and donkeys would join conventional means of transportation for the preparatory stage of the census, which is the compilation of enumeration areas.
"These beasts of burden will be used in areas with difficult terrain," he said. "Camels and donkeys will be used to complement vehicles, bicycles and carts during the enumeration period. They will also be used during the census itself."
He said the Sokoto office had enough compasses, global positioning systems and measuring wheels - all needed for the headcount.
The animals to be used, he said, would be well taken care of to ensure that everybody was counted, no matter how remotely located.
Census figures are a political issue in Nigeria where certain parts inflate the number of households and population of towns and cities to enhance their share of national income. Sapa-dpa
- SAPA