Officials of the National Population Commission (NPC) who worked with the Federal Commissioner representing Kebbi State in the Commission, Dr. Bala Haliru Jikan-Daudu have unanimously endorsed the work module which was experimented during the recent pre-census training of functionaries and ad-hoc staff in Kebbi State as a game-changer.
A top source who declined to be named indicated at the weekend that the team was almost through with a report that may form part of the basis for evolving a workable and seamless national policy document future pre-census training for ad-hoc staff.
The source said that the exercise which was personally evolved, coordinated and supervised by the Federal Commissioner representing Kebbi State comprised many angles leading to a multi-pronged approach to the exercise with resultant huge dividends.
“To start with, the Federal Commissioner representing Kebbi State in the Commission, Dr. Bala Haliru Jikan-Daudu being a thorough intellectual and university don realized early enough that he needed to explore and exploit the potentials of his academic background and community.
“Another thing that made his fall-back on his academic community was his immense popularity as a former academic staff union leader. It was therefore very easy for him to make an inroad in soliciting the support of his comrades.
“And to further put the icing on the cake was his acclaimed popularity among his people which the political establishment in the state and the entire geo-political zone fully appreciate. This was why Governor Atiku Bagudu and the entire Government House was on hand to give our team added political mileage.
“Besides, his wide cross-cutting appeal among all the ethnic groupings is something to take home. It is note-worthy that the Hon. Federal Commissioner, Dr. Bala Haliru Jikan-Daudu has traversed the length and breadth of the academic map of the country as a post-graduate student in the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and as a Associate Professor at the University of Port Harcourt’’, the source said.
The source also commented on the Federal Commissioner’s amazing strength and doggedness in getting things done in record time. Describing him as a workaholic, the official disclosed that many of his staff found it difficult to match up with his loaded work schedule.
“For example, there was a particular day, precisely on Saturday, February 4, 2023, for over three hours, Dr. Bala Haliru Jikan-Daudu led a team of officials to undertake a series of impactful on-the-field assessment visits to all the trainers and trainees conducting field practicals’’, he said.
According to him, they visited designated places across all the selected Enumeration Areas (EAs) such as Kofar kola, Ilelar Yari, Kuwakka banza, Zoramawa, Makeran gamdu, Kofa Sabuwa, Makeran Kasuga, Kwaddaga and Birnin Kebbi Metropolitan.
During the visits which elicited the overwhelming support and acceptance and participation of the host communities, Dr. Haliru Bala Jikan-Daudu urged the functionaries to make the most of the opportunity to serve the nation by giving maximum credibility, integrity and excellence to the forth-coming 2023 National Population and Housing Census of the National Population Commission in Kebbi State.
The functionaries comprise academics, professionals, computer experts, demographers drawn from universities across the North West including Katsina and Kaduna States.
He expressed appreciation for the high tempo of efforts and progress activities made so far, pointing out that initial success has been made by the functionaries exemplified in their high level of understanding of the core modalities of the forth-coming 2023 National Population and Housing Census of the National Population Commission in Kebii State.
Some of the participants expressed delight over what they described as his deeply patriotic interest in excellent service delivery and the overall success of the programmes, noting that such success-driven mindset was needed in the entire NPC to achieve acceptable, accurate, credible and reliable 2023 Census.
