Lagos — Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) weekend appealed to the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency set up the Census tribunal to deal with issues of demography in an obeyed and civilised manner.

Fashola, who spoke during a courtesy call on him by the Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Mr. Sidiki Coulibally at Alausa, said if Nigeria must truly become a global and internationally respected nation, it must be able to determine its population figures.

He added that the issue of population should not be treated as a political issue but something that involves numbers and statistics, saying no matter how high statistical figures could be it is always factual. In his words: "if we do not know how much power we need, because we do not know the number of people that we are, we don't know how many electrical appliances people have in there homes, there can never be enough power"

Governor Fashola added that in the process of producing power, if it is overproduced, it will not be economically efficient because there must be a useful economic equilibrium where those who produce electricity especially from the private sector can do so profitably and in a productive manner. He added that no one should regard it as being overzealousness if Nigerians desire to know their true number, because it is critical to planning, it is also critical to the issue of providing of providing food as well as determining how to provide accommodation and job for the people. Governor Fashola asserted that the time has come for Nigeria as a country to evolve a clear population policy as it cannot be allowed to continue to grow in an unrestrained manner, especially now when the world is facing the prospect of food crises.

He added that the country must be ready to check the population growth by looking at the possibility of institutionalising the policy of pegging the number of issues that each family can have, as similar policies have helped in some other locations. He said that the state government on its part has taken some pro active steps because of its concern on maternal child care by launching a programme of free screening for diabetes and high blood pressure.

Fashola explained that the state believes that the two ailments in many ways can compound the processes of childbirth, adding that the state has not only launched free screening but counseling and dispensation of medication after diagnosis.