The senator representing Bayelsa East senatorial district in the National Assembly, Sen. Ben Murray-Bruce has explained why Nigeria may not experience sustained economic growth.
He made this known in a short video, which is part of his popular Common Sense series, he posted via his verified Twitter handle on Sunday morning.
The senator said accurate census is a precursor to sustained economic growth and the nation is lagging behind in the conduct of credible census that can produce accurate population figures.
He captioned the video: Without an accurate census, Nigeria cannot have sustained economic growth. Here is why.
In the video, he recounts that Jesus was born in Bethlehem as his parents travelled to be part of a census conducted by the Roman Empire over 2000 years ago and wonders why Nigeria still found it difficult to conduct a credible census two millennia later.
He notes that without accurate census figures, Nigeria cannot have accurate national plans which in turn makes it impossible to have sustained economic growth that is dependent on its vast human, rather than mineral, resource.
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The senator queries why China and India, with eight and seven times Nigeria’s population respectively, can count their citizens but Nigeria cannot.
He condemns a situation where the nation relies on estimates from the United Nations and America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to have an idea of its population size.
He describes as shameful the nation’s reliance on foreign governments and institutions to tell its population size.
Murray-Bruce identifies honesty and patriotism at the national level as qualities needed for the nation to conduct a credible census that will produce accurate figures.
He states that the accurate figures are needed for the implementation of site-specifuc projects and infrastructure and how to plan for the future.
The senator adds that the figures are needed for policymakers to determine what needs to be done to cater for population growth.
He compares not having to information to flying a plane in the dark with no navigation aids.
“And only one thing can happen if you fly a plane in the dark without the right navigation information: you will crash.
“And that is exactly what is happening to Nigeria’s economy today,” he says.
Watch video below:
Without an accurate census, Nigeria cannot have sustained economic growth. Here is why. pic.twitter.com/lyoktwRR0S
— Ben Murray-Bruce (@benmurraybruce) July 29, 2018