PROBLEMS continued to dog the 2006 National Housing and Population Census, yesterday, casting doubts on the possibility that the population yet to be enumerated would be counted within the two-day extension announced by the Federal Government yesterday.

Complaints bordering on insufficient materials and personnel had forced President Olusegun Obasanjo to approve the extension of the headcount initially scheduled to end today, till tomorrow.

The complaints persisted yesterday even as the chairman of the National Population Commission, NPC, Chief Samaila Makama, announced that the extension of the census was costing the federal government additional N2 billion.

Tinubu tackles Makama, seeks further extension: In Lagos State, Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, commended Obasanjo for acceding to the state's request by extending the census by two days, but queried the reported record of 70 percent success credited to the NPC Chairman.

Tinubu, who spoke with newsmen at the premises of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, wondered how Makama arrived at the 70 percent assessment without declaring the total estimate of the census. He asked under what premise the NPC boss arrived at the figure when he had no prior determined figure in mind. He said the situation on ground in Lagos State contradicted the claim of NPC, adding that since the first three days of the exercise were lost to logistic problems, there was no way a coverage rate of 70 percent would have been recorded in Lagos State by the fifth day of the census.

His words: "We started the census by devoting the first three days to trying to solve logistic problems out of five possible days, which leaves us with less than 45% of the time left, leaving us with not more than 40 or 45 % success rate in the actual exercise." "So it is a puzzle that the National Chairman of NPC can come up to say that the exercise has already recorded over 70 % success. I hope he is not working to a specific answer that has been pre determined".

He added that the census exercise started on a wrong footing as inadequate materials where allocated to the state, adding that the only way out is for the NPC to deploy additional materials and men to the state to count the several millions who were waiting at home to be counted. Tinubu, who promised to prove the inadequacy of the materials sent down to Lagos for the exercise, said it was regrettable that the NPC did not plan for the massive population of Lagos.

He was of the view that Tuesday might also be needed by some of the enumerators to try and still reach the several masses of Lagosians that may still be left out of the exercise because according to him, "I am daily monitoring this exercise and there are several people who are still yet to be enumerated, that it might take some more days to get them counted" In a bid to allay fears of residents of estates over a short message service, SMS, which rumoured that robbers were posing as census officials, Tinubu said painstaking investigation by the police and other intelligence services revealed that the message was a ruse designed by anti- census agitators to cause confusion.

Agagu's SOS to Abuja: Following barrage of complaints of inadequate enumeration materials across the length and breadth of Ondo State, the governor, Dr Olusegun Agagu, waded into the situation with a view to finding solution.

Agagu, who ordered fresh supply of materials from NPC headquarters, Abuja, urged the census field officials to work diligently in the remaining days to ensure they completed the exercise. He assured them that the Federal Government would pay their allowances tomorrow based on the two-day extension of their services.

The governor spoke weekend in Akure during a marathon meeting with the NPC commissioner in the state, Dr Timothy Sule, and the comptrollers in the 18 local government areas. The meeting focussed on how to redress the ugly situation in the state and ensure state residents were counted.

Agagu had, after listening to the reports of the comptrollers who said they were in short supply of forms NPC 01 and 07, made a phone call to NPC Chairman, Chief Samu'ila Makama, on the need to send more enumeration materials to the state. Makama, agreed that top officials of the commission should come to Abuja for more materials for the state yesterday morning..

Earlier, the NPC commissioner had told the gathering that a total of 1,729 boxes of form NPC 01 were appropriated to Ondo State being the projection based on the 1991 census figure for the state. But the comptrollers said the forms were insufficient based on the nature of households that their officials encountered in the different enumeration areas.

Threat in Edo: Political leaders in Edo State threatened to reject the outcome of the census, accusing NPC officials of sabotage and working out a plot to undercount residents of the state.

But enumerators and co-ordinators intensified the headcount in most parts of the state capital that previously complained of no-enumeration.

The leaders, drawn from the seven local government areas of Edo South Senatorial District and made up of the first civilian governor of the state, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the Iyase (prime minister) of Benin Kingdom and Chief Sam Igbe, the Isogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri, said though the extension of the enumeration period by the Federal Government was a welcome development, the people of the state had been denied their legitimate rights to be counted by the NPC.

Speaking with newsmen yesterday at his residence, Igbe, on behalf of other leaders of the senatorial district under the aegis of the Benin Forum, noted with concern that as at day four of the census, most parts of Benin City, the state capital, had not been enumerated and that all was not well with arrangement made for the exercise in the state.

The Iyase's words: "The Benin Forum representing Edo South Senatorial District is sad to note that all is not well with the arrangements made so far particularly as it affects our area. As at today, there are many shortcomings noted and unless urgent actions are taken to rectify the ugly situation, our people would have been denied their legitimate and constitutional right to be counted. Our people would certainly not accept sermons and harkened compromises at the end of the day. Among the shortcomings noted is the non-payment of enumerators, shortage of enumerators and by the fourth day, many of the houses had not been numbered and counting had not started because distribution of materials and logistic had become a monumental problem"

Sabotage: Reports from Kaduna State said the Federal Commissioner of the NPC in the state, Dr. Ufot Asibong-Ibe, yesterday alleged sabotage of the census in the state. Asibong-Ibe spoke to newsmen after an inspection tour of enumeration areas in the state. He said some unscrupulous elements were bent on sabotaging the census by hijacking materials meant for the exercise.

He spoke as Governor Ahmed Makarfi announced tomorrow as a work free day to make up for the lost days even as the president of the Southern Kaduna Youth Vanguard, Mordecai Ibrahim, called for outright cancellation of the exercise, alleging politicisation and unreadiness of the commission to carry out a full proof census for the state. According to Asibong-Ibe, the saboteurs were bent on making sure that the exercise in the state did not succeed. Speaking to newsmen after a meeting of the State Census Advisory Committee at the Government House in Kaduna, Makarfi said that the one-day holiday was declared to ensure that sensitive census materials were distributed to all local government before the end of the exercise.

Controller kidnapped: Reports from Delta State indicated that member representing Ndokwa East constituency in the state house of assembly, Dr. Olisa Imegwu raised alarm over alleged non-utilization of the N10 million which the state government appropriated to ,Ndokwa East Council to enable it assist in the conduct of the census in the area.

Addressing a press conference in Asaba, the lawmaker wondered why the chairman of the council, Mrs. Mary Chidi, should not set up a census committee as was done by her counterparts in other local governments of the state.

He said that the money which was a gesture from Governor James Ibori could have gone a long way to ameliorate the sufferings of the enumerators who needed speed boats because of the difficult terrain of the area for effective coverage and other logistics.

"It is said that N10 million was given to each local government council chairman to assist in the census exercise since the council chairman is inaccessible. About six of the councilors we asked could not account for that of Ndokwa East Local Government Area. It has been confmed that Oshimili South, Oshimili North, Aniocha North, Ika North East, Ughelli Sough and Aniocha South, received the 10 million and disbursed it by their census committee set up for that purpose but that is not the case in Ndokwa east", Imegwu added.

He also complained of shortage of materials . Also in the council, an NPC controller was kidnapped over alleged shortage of headcount materials while a fake census official was arrested at Issele-Uku by the police for allegedly demanding N500,000 bribe from the chairman of Aniocha North local government council.

The whereabouts of the kidnapped controller were not known at press time

Meanwhile, appreciable progress in the headcount in the state but the major handicap was lack of sufficient materials.

Most residents observed the sit at home order and hailed the extension of the census exercise .

No faith: From Bayelsa State came reports that the two-day extension of the census by the federal government may not make much difference in the predominantly riverine state where majority of the people were yet to be counted yesterday. Sunday Vanguard investigation revealed that in spite of the two days stayed at home order to residents to enable them to be counted, enumerators were not forthcoming in most parts of the state ostensibly because of dearth in supply of materials. Apart from the shoddy preparation for the headcount, the difficult terrain of the state made accessibility a Herculean task while the restriction of movement and persistent rainfall in the coastal hinterland did not help matters.

As at the time of filing in this report most Bayelsans who were yet to counted told Sunday Vanguard that had lost faith in the exercise stressing that even the additional two days would not make any difference. They noted with sadness the inability of the nation to conduct a successful head count adding, "if those of us here in Yenagoa could wait endlessly to be counted in our homes without any enumerator in sight is it those in the hinterland that could not be reached easily that would be counted."

Complaints by residents

Disturbed by the litany of complaints from residents and even enumerators, Bayelsa State governor Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was compelled to call for the extension of the exercise and also agreed to off set the outstanding allowances of the field operators deployed to the state. The state governor, while monitoring the census, noted that if the enumerators, supervisors, coordinators and controllers involved in the head count were not given proper incentives, the success of the exercise might be in jeopardy.

Also, a member of the House of Representatives Committee on Population Census, Chief Andrew Uchendu, who was in the state to monitor the exercise, expressed displeasure with the shortage of enumeration materials and other shortcomings of the head count in the state.

Residents of Onitsha, Awka, Nnewi and other communities in Anambra State welcomed the extension of the census. They said the extension would offer them the opportunity to be registered as many of them could not register as a result of the activities of MASSOB. Senator Ben Obi representing Anambra Central District said the extension was a welcome development. Obi who had earlier called for the extension, however called on the people of Anambra State to ensure that they used the extension to get counted.

According to him, census is a very vital civic responsibility which is used in planning the nation's social and economic life, and urged them not to joke with it. Obi also called on NPC officials to ensure that the extension was well utilised by ensuring that materials were readily made available for the people to be counted. Residents of Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi had earlier called for the exercise to be extended on account of the massive disruption it witnessed in the areas caused by miscreants.

Hostilities: In Plateau State, the two-day extension of the census raised hope that those who might have been left out in the counting will eventually get to be enumerated. The extension doused initial fears that many people in the state may be left uncounted if the exercise had ended yesterday. The fears stemmed from the initial hiccups which manifested in delays in the payment of census ad-hoc officials and in the distribution of materials, among others. This resulted in a situation where counting did not start in many parts until Friday which was the third day of the census. The most pronounced problem was the shortage of materials such that there were reports of photocopies of materials being used in some areas to cope with the shortage. There were also reports that specimen materials used for the training of the officials were converted into census materials in the face of shortages. Also noteworthy was the discovery of census materials meant for Nasarawa State in some p arts of Plateau, particularly in Bokkos Local Government Area which generated some anxiety among the people. Some even alleged that it was a ploy to favour Nasarawa over Plateau in the census exercise.

In some areas, the exercise reopened old hostilities among communities over boundaries leading to a delay in the commencement of the exercise. For example, two village heads in Fudawa area of Jos North Local Government Area slugged it out over claims to boundaries. The exercise could therefore not commence in their respective "domains" until the disagreement was resolved. So disturbed was Governor Joshua Dariye about the various problems that dogged the census that he, on Friday, prior to the extension, appealed for more days for the exercise if all residents of the state would be counted. He noted the peculiar terrain of some parts of the state which would slow down census officials as another reason for the exercise to be extended. By yesterday, significant progress had been made in many areas where counting was delayed and NPC officials were optimistic that all would be well.

In Kano State, residents linked the problems that dogged the headcount in the state to the alleged plot to undermine the actual numbers of people in the state capital allegations from Kano stakeholders that the population of Kano is higher than Lagos, and allegedly accused the NPC of favoring Lagos state with the number of enumerators as well as enumerating materials.

These claims dominated the advocacy public hearing when the minister of information and national orientation, Mr. Frank Nweke visited the state prior to commencement of the head count exercise to interact with the stakeholders and assess areas that needed urgent attention of the federal government to avert anything that may hamper the smooth flow of the exercise in the state.

The headcount was marred by problems in almost all the 44 local government areas of the state as NPC complained of shortage of enumerators and Form NPC 01, NPC 07 and NPC 06. In all the areas visited, local government chairmen disclosed that they were compelled to make photocopies of enumeration forms, having waited in vain for NPC officials to bring forms to them. The chairman of Dambatta local government, Alhaji Musa Alhassan lamented that they could not start the exercise on time because officials who pay enumerators did not start on time and they did not provide enough funds to pay the enumerators after the training exercise.

'Count me out': In Oyo State, an Ibadan based member of MASSOB, yesterday, refused to be enumerated, saying it would not be proper for him and his family members to be enumerated as Nigerians since they belonged to the Biafran Republic.

Enumerators had reportedly got to Mr. Iwenge's house located along Ayorinde Street, Ekotedo Area, where he neither gave attention to the officials nor allowed members of his family to do so on the grounds that the exercise was meant for citizens of Nigeria alone." I am not a Nigerian but a Biafran citizen, and no enumerator should disturb my peace and that of my family here," Iwenge was quoted as saying.

When all efforts of the enumerators to convince him failed, they called the attention of his landlord, Mr. Abiona, to prevail on him.After the landlord had made unsuccessful efforts to make him see reason, he drew the attention of the community leader, Chief Taye Ayorinde to further enlighten the recalcitrant MASSOB member.

Sunday Vanguard further learnt that the landlord and community leader headed for the police station to report the incident. Before they got back to his house, the man had run away leaving behind his family members. In his absence, his wife and children were forcefully enumerated.

Speaking on the matter, Ayorinde confirmed that the landlord had threatened to give Iwenge quit notice if he (Iwenge) did not yield to persuasion.When the Federal commissioner, NPC Oyo State, Sir Samuel Sunday Lawal was asked to comment on the matter, he said that he was yet to be briefed on the issue. Also, the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Jonathan Johnson, said the case had not been officially reported to him.

Clamour for PDP's probe: In Abeokuta, Ogun State capita, Alliance for Democracy, AD, yesterday called for a proper investigation of the alleged diversion of enumeration materials by some Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] chieftains in the state prompting Friday's demonstration by enumerators in the state capital. Speaking with newsmen in Abeokuta, AD chieftain, Mr. Bisi Adegbuyi, berated the PDP over the allegation and urged law enforcement agencies to investigate it. No fewer than 200 enumerators had on Friday protested shortage of materials in Ogun Central, alleging that the materials were diverted by PDP to other parts of the state for political reasons. But Adegbuyi, a senatorial aspirant from Ogun East, said that the issue be investigated because the PDP governments at the federal and state levels lacked credibility.

Arrested: In Enugu, the state police command said it arrested 15 persons for fomenting trouble and harassing census officials across the state since the exercise commenced. The police also said that some unidentified persons who were driving around in a bus and discouraging people from being enumerated in Nkanu area escaped police arrest at Amodu Awkunanaw, as they abandoned their bus with the inscription, Peace Mass Transit, and fled. Occupants of the bus, which is now in police custody were suspected to be members of the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB). The command public relations officer (PPRO), Mr. Michael Abattam, who disclosed these while briefing reporters, yesterday, said two locally made pistols and a cutlass were recovered from two men at Maryland in Enugu South Local Government Area on Friday.

He could not say if the arrested persons were all MASSOB members but, according to him, investigations were in progress and the suspects would be arraigned in court before long. The PPRO however confirmed that the MASSOB members arrested in connection with the attack on census officials and the burning of a car belonging to a census coordinator at New Haven Primary School, Enugu on Tuesday were being interrogated and would soon be charged to court. Vowing that the police would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that criminals who perpetrated the heinous act were fished out, Abattam said that the crime went beyond census crime and as such would not be handled with kid gloves. Meanwhile, combat ready mobile policemen and armored carriers patrolled various parts of Enugu metropolis and its environs yesterday evening as part of security measures put in place by the police to contain the activities of the MASSOB activists who have continued to mobilize Igbo youths against the cen sus exercise.

In Imo State, the census was affected by communal crisis, a bomb blast in Owerri Municipal Council premises and the activities of loyalists of. MASSOB which campaigned against the exercise, contending that they were Biafrans and not Nigerians. It was therefore understandable when news filtered into Owerri, the state capital, that census officials were attacked at Okwe, Onuimo local government area country home of the incarcerated arrowhead of MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike. Security personnel were quickly drafted to the troubled area.

People scampered into safety at the sight of heavily armed security personnel and planned enumeration of the citizens was stalled. The Deputy Governor, Engr. Ebere Udeagu, made a quick dash to the area, assembled and talked to royal fathers, officers of the local government area and town union executives. He warned that government would not look kindly on anybody who wanted to scuttle the exercise.

The situation at Umuobom, Ideato South local government area, when Sunday Vanguard visited, was that of willingness on the part of enumerators to work but materials were lacking. Irked by the shoddy preparation and execution of the headcount, Imo State Governor, Chief Achike Udenwa, appealed to Obasanjo to extend the exercise. Udenwa, who made the call at Orlu after monitoring the census exercise, said he was particularly unhappy that the vital registration forms were in very short supply in most areas, giving the impression that the exercise was deliberately made to fail in the state.

"My administration is insisting that the National Population Commission must make these registration forms 01 and 07 available to the enumerators to ensure that Imo State is not short-changed in the exercise", Udenwa said. The NPC Commissioner, Alhaji Bukar Madi, alleged that census materials were mismanaged and misallocated in the state. He further disclosed that his office had dispatched some officials to the NPC headquarters in Abuja, to collect more materials and expressed hope that they would arrive the state yesterday morning. Some of the local government areas visited by the governor include Mbaitoli, Orlu, Aboh Mbaise, Isiala Mbano, Nkwerre and Njaba.

In Ekiti State, yesterday, indigenes hailed the president for extending the head count, saying the extension would make up for those who were unable to be enumerated initially.

Our correspondent who visited various local governments like Oye, Irepodun/Ifelodun, Ido-Osi, Ekiti West, Ekiti South West, Ikere, Ado-Ekiti, Ise and Emure local governments saw NPC officials going from one house to another to enumerate people.

Most of the people who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, including the Ogoga of Ikere, Oba Adegboye Akayejo, commended Obasanjo for approving additional two days to enumerate the people, noting that majority of the people of his community were yet to be counted.

At Oye, Hon. Olufemi Dada, representing Ekiti North Federal Constituency I in the House of representatives, lamented that about 60 per cent of people of his constituency could not be enumerated due to shortage of materials, adding that the extension of time would provide ample opportunity for people to be counted.

At Ido-Osi, the Chairman of the Local Government, Chief Tidius Aina, said the local government was gradually over coming the initial problem the NPC officials were facing in the course of going about their duty, as people thought the exercise was synonymous with taxation .

In addition to this, according to him, some of the officials of NPC were finding it difficult to work beyond 3.30 p.m., noting that the extension of days would take care of probable limitation the commission might have had .

At Ise, NPC officials were seen going from one house to another counting people. Local government chairmen in Abia State also commended the federal government for extending the national census saying it would go a long way towards achieving a credible headcount.

The chairmen had since the commencement of the exercise noted that in view of the problem encountered by the field workers on the first two days of the exercise, only an extension of time would make it possible for everybody to be counted. And following the extension of the head count yesterday, the chairmen moved swiftly to mobilize their people some of who had earlier lost hope of being counted.

Among those who appreciated the extension include chairmen of Umuahia North, Reverend Sam Ekeledo, Chief Joseph Adiele of Ukwa East, Chief Kelvin Ugbaja of Ikwuano, Chief Friday Onukwue of Isiala Ngwa North, Dr Christian Okoli of Aba South and Chief Macaulay Obia of Obingwa.

In Ilorin, Kwara State capital, residents stayed indoor to be counted,even as they expressed satisfaction that the exercise had been extended by two days.

There had been barrages of complaints by the residents who claimed not to have been counted late Friday and therefore created doubts that the exercise would not achieve the desired result in the state.

Scores of residents who spoke with Sunday Vanguard had called for the extension of the exercise before President Olusegun Obasanjo's broadcast yesterday morning in which he added two days to the headcount. Meanwhile there were indications that the embattled traditional ruler of Jebba in Moro Local Government area of the state, Oba Abdulkadir Adebara , was among detainees enumerated during the exercise in the statecapital which sparked off another tension in the town. The monarch was detained on the order of an Ilorin Magistrate Court, an action which consequently became a subject of protest by indigenes of the community who petitioned Obasanjo to ask for his intervention on the matter. Magistrate S.M.Akanbi had ordered Adebara remanded at the Ilorin Federal Prisons last Monday for allegedly parading himself as the traditional ruler of Jebba when he allegedly knew that the position was vacant. The Magistrate had fixed ruling on arguments for his bail for tomorrow while the sub stantive case is slated for April 20. NPC officials and prison authorities confirmed to our correspondent yesterday that the enumeration of inmates at the Ilorin Prison began last Thursday and was completed Friday morning. There was an early delay due to shortage of materials, it was gathered.

Extension costs FG N2 bn

FOLLOWING NPC's inability to complete the headcount within the initial five days earmarked for the exercise and Obasanjo's announcement of two extra days, Makama, yesterday, disclosed that the federal government had made available additional N2 billion to the commission, the enumeration exercise within the stipulated five days and President Olusegun Obasanjo's announcement of additional two days, the Chairman of the Commission, Chief Samaila Makama disclosed that the Federal Government has made available additional N2billion naira to the Commission for the days.

Inspite of wide range speculations that the figures would be manipulated at the end of the day against the backdrop of myriad of problems enveloping the conduct of the exercise, the Chairman who noted that there was no hidden agenda in the conduct of the 2006 Census, denied any knowledge of manipulations, even as he said the Commission has not received any report of manipulations, adding that every Nigerian would be counted at the expiration of the additional two days.

"There is no evidence of manipulations of census figures anywhere and there is no hidden agenda. We are satisfied with the enumeration process, everybody will be counted and I am comfortable", he said.

Speaking in Abuja during the routine press briefing on situation reports on the conduct of the census, the chairman said the money would be used in upsetting the remuneration to all categories of field workers participating in the exercise.

This is in addition to over billions of naira spent on the exercise by the Nigeria government, the European Union and the United nations through its UNDP.

According to him, each of the enumerators and supervisors will receive additional remuneration of N2, 570 and N3, 428 respectively for the additional two days meaning that this will translate into N1, 285 per day for enumerators and N1, 714 per day for supervisors.

He said with the extension of the field work by two days and at the end of the seven day field work, the enumerators will go home with N11, 570 while the supervisors will collect N15, 428, adding that all the allowances due to the field workers will be paid through the banks after due clearance by the NPC officials.

Makama, who said that five census functionaries were involved in a motor accident in Ijumu Local of Kogi State, with one supervisor feared dead, stressed that census officials were sent from Benin, the Edo State Capital to the disputed boundary communities of Ijaja and Ogbohodon in Akoko-Edo local Government Area of the state to enumerate them.

He admitted that the exercise was slow in Kebbi State, just as he said that reported cases of shortage of NPC 01 in Nasarawa State had been addressed, adding that security had been beefed up in Anambra State and enumeration going on in the state.

According to him, enumeration was being repeated in areas where some deviants destroyed the materials in Enugu State pointing out that the Commission was handling the boundary dispute in Abaji, one of the area councils of the Federal Capital Territory.