Problems of Population Census in Africa and Problems with the Use of Vital Records in Nigeria.
PROBLEMS OF POPULATION CENSUS IN AFRICA AND PROBLEMS WITH THE USE OF VITAL RECORDS IN NIGERIA. PROBLEMS OF POPULATION CENSUS IN AFRICA One important area where data collection is essential is human population, its data collection procedures is usually by direct enumeration carried out for every individual the territory at approximately the same time is known as the POPULATION CENSUS. More explicitly it can be defined as a complete process of collection, reception, assessments, analysis publication and distribution of demographic, economic and social data, which relates at a given moment in time to all the residents of a country or of a well-defined partial geographic area, as reflected in the population and housing censuses handbook of the U.N in 1992. While conducting population census, there are various problems that could be altering the successful completion of the exercise using Africa and some African countries as case study, they include:
i. Insufficient funding ii. Manpower ( inadequate skills/ knowledge , availability ) iii. Political influences iv. Inaccuracy in the base maps being used
v. Inaccessibility to enumeration areas.
Funding has been a major issue in the conduct of population censuses in developing countries especially in Africa. Most countries find the exercise too cumbersome to carry out in respect of monetary times and as such the periodical conduct of censuses under a 10 years plan as practiced by some developed countries in Europe and north America could not be achieved in Africa but some countries like Botswana have been able to achieve a considerable number of censuses up to tune of 15 censuses in their history. Sighting Nigeria as an example, the concluded 2006 national population and housing census was conducted after 15 years of the unsuccessful previous one. Even with respect to that wide gap. The country still had to receive monetary aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The
i. Insufficient funding ii. Manpower ( inadequate skills/ knowledge , availability ) iii. Political influences iv. Inaccuracy in the base maps being used
v. Inaccessibility to enumeration areas.
Funding has been a major issue in the conduct of population censuses in developing countries especially in Africa. Most countries find the exercise too cumbersome to carry out in respect of monetary times and as such the periodical conduct of censuses under a 10 years plan as practiced by some developed countries in Europe and north America could not be achieved in Africa but some countries like Botswana have been able to achieve a considerable number of censuses up to tune of 15 censuses in their history. Sighting Nigeria as an example, the concluded 2006 national population and housing census was conducted after 15 years of the unsuccessful previous one. Even with respect to that wide gap. The country still had to receive monetary aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The
References: Population and development – the Carter centre, Population geography by Onoferter .