The Executive Chairman, Obafemi Owode Local Government, Amb. Adesina 'Lanre Ogunsola, FCPA has assured the Nigeria Population Commission (NPC) of his readiness to support in raising the awareness and mobilization of the public towards births registration, deaths registration,age attestation and coming census exercise.
Amb. Ogunsola made the assertion while receiving the Federal Honourable Commissioner and other officers of the Commission in his office, Owode-Egba.
He stressed the needs for the Commission to extend its enlightenment campaign to other Southern States in order for the people to know more about the duties and importance of birth registration, as against the impression that the Northerners are more populated.
" I want to appreciate your visit to our local government, let me state here that Obafemi Owode Local Government borders two major states, Lagos and Oyo, shares boundaries with seven local governments in Ogun State which is not too common" stated.
Earlier, Hon. Otunba Fasuwa Johnson Abayomi, Federal Commissioner, National Population Commission expressed his satisfaction at the turn up of the political functionaries, management of the council to their calling, as it is first of its kind out of the numbers of local governments visited so far.
He explained that publics believed that only duty performed by the commission is census, whereas there are other major duties carried out by the National Population Commission, which includes issuance of birth certificate for children between age zero to seventeen, while eighteen and above who does not have privileged to have their birth certificate at tender age can as well come for the attestation of birth,as the commission are on the verge of transferring paper issued birth certificate to electronic registration and data, electronically called e-registration.
Furthermore, Dr. Adenuga Yinka, State Director, National Population Commission emphasized that the need for the Local Government to mobilized their people is to enhance their chances in enjoying a fair share at the federal allocation of revenue and other policies requirements.
He explained that the commission is on a proposal to set up Committees at every local government where all stakeholders like representative from the NPC, National Orientation Agency(NOA), Community Development Association (CDAs) and other groups will be part of mobilization team.
He stressed that major reasons some states benefitted much in federal government fiscal policies was based on their seriousness on the involvement of their people in the registration of birth and documentations during census, as he encouraged Obafemi Owode Local Government to utilize same opportunity to boost their record base on the large area covered and emergence of industries.
Dr. Lekan Ogunjobi, Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Obafemi Owode Local Government requested the Commission in making sure Obafemi Owode Local Government have enough materials in the coming census as against the experience in year 2016 where they had to improvise, where some of the supplied materials were not enough, which later yielded no results to the numbers captured and left many disenfranchised from the exercise.
