Wilson Adekumola
The Muslim Rights Concern has urged the Federal Government to shift the initial date scheduled for the planned census to after the Ramadan fasting period.
MURIC Director, Professor. Ishaq Akintola, in a statement on Wednesday, made the urge to the Federal Government.
The chairman of the National Population Commission, Nasir Isa Kwara, had disclosed that the planned census would hold from March 29 to April 2nd.
In the statement, he said, “Our attention has been drawn to the date fixed for the 2023 census by the National Population Commission, 29th March to 2nd April 2023 may not be good dates for the xercise because those dates fall within the first and second weeks of Ramadan. Although nothing in our religion says working during the month of Ramadan is prohibited and millions of Muslims do their daily work during the month of Ramadan, rigorous spiritual exercise in Ramadan cannot be easily combined with the hazards of the census for both the citizens who are to be counted and the enumerators too.”
While explaining how fasting might affect the conduct of the census, he said, “Census work is rigorous, hectic, tedious and tortuous. The logistics of both exercises contradict each other. It must also be noted that census work necessitates courtesy and cordiality between households and enumerators. Hunger , fatigue and dehydration may not allow those who are fasting to manifest patience and observe necessary decorum when attending to enumerators. This may affect the success of the exercise. It is, therefore, better after Ramadan.