Opinion by simonkolawole: A census we don’t count on via thecableng
no matter the outcome of the next census — formerly scheduled for May 3-5 but now postponed indefinitely — it will be hotly disputed. Although we have excluded basic demographic markers such as religion and ethnicity to minimise controversy, there will still be allegations of manipulation of figures in favour of one state, one geo-political zone, one region or the other. There is no escaping it. The outcome will be attacked based on legitimate as well as ridiculous sentiments.
Maybe there is also the bragging rights aspect that we should list as the third reason for the sensitivity of census. “My state is bigger than yours” is a very common shoulder-raiser in Nigeria. We often think quantity matters and this is also reflected in our universal boasting of being the “largest black nation in the world”. We know that a state could be smaller in population but bigger in economic well-being.
Even on the issue of revenue allocation, as I have pointed out in the past, the role of population is often exaggerated. The “horizontal” sharing of 26.72 percent of the federation account among the 36 states is always the sore point here. The 26.72 percent is shared based on five principles: equality of states, 40 percent population, 30 percent landmass/terrain, 10 percent internal revenue effort, 10 percent social development effort, 10 percent.
It is a lost cause trying to persuade some people to accept that our census figures are not as central to our nationhood as we think. It has also become pointless arguing that it shouldn’t matter what state has the most population — what should really matter is the economic productivity of the federating units. The way we debate in Nigeria, everything revolves around federation allocation. We are overly obsessed with who should get more and who should get less.
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