Council of State endorses census figures, says Obasanjo
From KABIRU YUSUF,Abuja

YESTERDAY President Olusegun Obasanjo said that the provisional figures released by the Commission have revealed that the country’s population indicate that as at March 2006, stood at 140, 003, 542.
This, he said “ is made up of 71, 709, 859 males and 68, 293, 683 females, with a ratio of ‘’one hundred and five males to one hundred females”.
The president who revealed this in national broadcast to the nation yesterday explained that on Friday, December 29th 2006, the National Population Commission (NPC) formally presented the Report of the 2006 National Census exercise to him and in the presence of members of the Federal Executive Council.
In his words “ The National Council of State has advised that the Report be accepted in accordance with Section 213, Sub-section 2 of the 1999 Constitution.
“The State-by-State breakdown is presented in the Report, while the Local Government breakdown will be ready in due course,” he said.
This figure, according to him, represents a 3.2 annual growth rate saying that this rate implies that, even with our planned annual economic growth rate of a minimum of 10%, we need to seriously face up to the challenge of moderating our population growth rate to about 2% to enable us double the growth of our national economy every eight or nine years.
“We must also bear in mind that high rates of poverty generally correlate with large households.
‘’One way of addressing this critical matter is through more focused attention on girl-child education and the discouragement of such unprogressive cultural practices as early child marriage”, he added.
As the critical significance of credible census figures for planning and developmental purposes cannot be over emphasized, the president said, “This informs our joy at having been able to bequeath to our dear nation, the results of a highly successful census exercise which would in no small measure contribute to the accelerated structured growth of our national economy.‘’
While reiterating that his administration takes cognizance of the fact that no human enterprise is imbued with absolute flawlessness or perfection, he said that government applauded the National Population Commission for its strict adherence to the principles of scientific objectivity, rigorous commitment to the critical essence of the credibility and integrity of the process.
And while commending the efforts of the commission, he also expressed his Immense gratitude to the international development partners, especially the European Union which provided, in addition to logistical support, a sizeable proportion of the funding for the exercise.
Similarly, he extended his gratitude to the entire membership of the National Assembly for the promptness with which they expedited action on all census-related issues as well as the National Council of State for their consistent support.
Following this achievement, he said “I urge all Nigerians to accord the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the same degree of support and understanding as that Commission faces the critical challenge of enduing the electoral process with the highest possible level of credibility and delivering acceptable results to Nigerians at the end of the 2007 general elections.
If the National Population Commission can do it, the President observed “INEC can do it too. As an Administration, we are committed to ensuring that INEC is effectively supported and enabled to live up to its mandate”.
“I am confident that at the end of our tenure, we would have evolved an economically viable, politically stable, strong, progressive, and prosperous new Nigeria founded on the ideals of democratic good governance, fairness, justice, love, equity, mutual respect, industry, and the fear of God.
“In accordance with Section 213, Sub-section 4 of the 1999 Constitution, I have accepted the Report and it will be laid before the National Assembly for information and then published in the official Gazette of the Federal Government for the public,”. he concluded.