A Senior
Advocate of Nigeria and a human rights activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome, has
alleged that previous censuses conducted since the almagamation of the northern
and
southern regions of Nigeria, have always been manipulated to favour the
North.
“All the
censuses we have ever had in this country have always been manipulated. They
have never reflected the true population of Nigeria. This is the only country
in this world where the population in the dry region is higher than those in
the wetlands,” he said.
Ozekhome was
reacting to a recent statement made by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, wherein he called on the chairman of the
National Population Commission (NPC) to shelve the conduct of the proposed 2018
national census.
According to
Dogara, politicians will take advantage of the census exercise to cook up
figures and manipulate the outcome of the 2019 general election.
But addressing
newsmen in his office yesterday, Ozekhome, said it is wrong for states “laying
the golden eggs to have fewer local government areas.”
“This is
because of our attachments to national resources. Look at this. The old Kano
was divided into Kano and Jigawa states. As I speak, Kano State has 44 local
government areas, while Jigawa has 27. National resources sharing is based on
this.
“Let us look
at Bayelsa. Bayelsa lays the golden egg, but it has only 8 local government
areas. If Bayelsa lays the eggs, where is the justice in this country, when
those who do not lay the eggs get the lion’s share?
“When Dogara
is afraid of census before 2019 elections, I sympathise with him. He knows that
census is an explosive matter in this country.
“The former
chairman of National Population Commission (NPC) said previous censuses were
false, he was sacked because certain parts of this country did not like what he
said.
“I agree with
the speaker that the census should not be held. The 2019 elections are almost
here. Let the census be held after the 2019 elections. If its held, it will be
manipulated by politicians. The same politicians can even use the census
exercise to disrupt the conduct of the 2019 general election.”
Ozekhome also
reacted to another statement credited to some northern leaders, who recently
called on President Muhammadu Buhari not to implement resolutions reached at
the 2014 National Conference, held in Abuja.
The Sun news reported that, he described
those calling on President Buhari not to implement the resolutions of the
Conference report as hypocrites. He said the northern leaders participated in
the conference and were part of the decisions reached by over 450 delegates
drawn from every part of the country.
“It was a
battle royale at the 2014 National Conference. At the 2014 National Conference,
we made over 600 recommendations. No one was forced to adopt any report. We
disagreed during the conference and almost exchanged blows.
“It is
alarming when you see participants of that conference coming out to say that
they have rejected the outcome of the exercise. Every segment of Nigeria from
the six geopolitical zones were represented at that conference.
“We cannot
take our unity for granted. It needs to be nurtured. We need to go back to
fiscal federalism. The over 600 recommendations of the National Conference
which President Muhammadu Buhari has said he will put away in the archives, is
unfortunate,” Ozekhome added.
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