Nigeria Counts Her Millions
By “Awake!” correspondent in Nigeria
FOR eight days, from November 25 to December 2, 1973, Nigeria went through the mammoth exercise of counting its population.
Phase one of the census process involved preparing a list of all localities in the country. Then the country was divided into enumeration areas. All the houses within an area were listed and numbered to ensure that none would be omitted or duplicated. Enumerators received careful advance training.
The census that Nigeria held in 1973 was the second one since the nation’s independence, and the thirteenth recorded census in its entire history. Its purpose was to “enable [the] government to plan successfully for the country’s industrial and economic development,” according to Nigeria’s military head, General Yakubu Gowon.
Before the actual head count, the National Census Board undertook a massive program of publicity and of mobilization of workers. The Head of State explained that “all over the country, everyone was involved—the military governors, government officials, local authorities, emirs and chiefs.” The 120,000 enumerators that were appointed for this job were accompanied in their visits from house to house by 130,000 soldiers.
Some Problems to Overcome
There were many problems to overcome in educating and preparing the people to cooperate with the census. A drought in the northern states of the country, which has been ravaging many villages and causing death from starvation, forced many families out of their villages less than three weeks before the start of the head count. “I have found it most difficult in my position as their traditional ruler to convince them to stay in their villages,” lamented Alhaji Ado Bayero, the emir of Kano.
Some feared that counting the number of one’s children would bring about the death of the children. In many areas dogs presented a menace to the enumerators, making it difficult for them to get into the homes of the people to register them. These problems had to be dealt with by information officers and other authorities in each local area.
But, according to Dr. M. I. Iro of the Department of Sociology in the University of Lagos, an even greater problem was that “former population censuses . . . have generated controversy centered on what constitutes an accurate population of Nigeria. Many people within and outside this country have come to believe that the figure of 55,670,052, released in February 1964 as the population of Nigeria after the 1963 census, was inaccurate and probably overestimated.”
That is why so much care was exercised in marking out enumeration areas to ensure that they would not overlap, and in training of enumerators and supervisors. During the house-to-house count, it was required that each individual would have to be seen by the enumerator. When counted, they would have their left thumb marked with indelible ink. This would ensure that no one would be counted twice.
The government also had to cope with the problem of people moving back to their towns of origin to be counted there. This was undesirable, for this was to be a “de facto” census. That is, all persons in Nigeria, whether Nigerian or non-Nigerian, were to be counted wherever they were found during the enumeration period. Therefore, the government requested that people throughout the nation remain where they were now living. The police were instructed to be extra vigilant in checking individuals and motorists, and so during the enumeration period many were not allowed to leave Lagos because they did not have the ink mark on their thumbs.
Determined to Count Everyone
All inmates of prisons, hospitals and other institutions were included in the count. Even the thousands of homeless people throughout the nation who live in parks and sleep under bridges on the roadways were counted the night before the enumeration period began. The total figure includes the more than 94,000 of Jehovah’s witnesses, who find real delight in extending the good news of God’s kingdom to these millions of people.
But what about the thousands of Moslem women in “purdah” who are confined to their homes, according to Moslem tradition? These, too, were to be counted. The Daily Times of Nigeria reported: “Where women police and women enumerators are available, they will do the enumeration in the purdah. Where these are not available the women in purdah will come out into the reception hall or ‘zaure’ heavily veiled and the census indelible ink will be daubed on their thumbs by their husbands in the presence of the enumerator, accompanied by the soldier.”
All primary schools were closed beginning seven days prior to the census. All places of work in state capitals and Warri township were to close early each day during the enumeration period. The Nigerian Railways arranged for an additional daily train service in the Lagos area to enable workers to get home in time to be counted. But even these provisions were inadequate. By the time the head count reached its fifth day, it was found that more time and more workers were needed in order to complete the census.
For this reason, all public and private offices and commercial houses in the nation’s two largest cities were required to close down from November 29 through December 1. The number of enumerators grew to 150,000, and civil servants and teachers at all levels were required to make themselves available for assignment in the enumeration work. As a final measure, the enumeration period was extended to include Sunday, December 2, making eight days in all.
The head count came to a successful conclusion in spite of some enumerators’ trying to charge money for their services. The government condemned this practice severely and immediately took steps to punish these defaulters. The majority of people cooperated well with the exercise and many of them who had been overlooked by the enumerators reported to complaint centers that were set up to ensure that no one was missed.
A visiting UN expert lauded the success of this census, saying that the method adopted by the federal government of Nigeria was “one of the best in the world.” What the total will be after all the figures are added up we must wait to see.