Project – Design and implementation of census management information system for National Population Commission

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

Census has been a reliable exercise from time, from where the government relies on decision-making and aids for administration and planning. According to Robert M.Groves,(2010) Director of the United States Census Bureau; “Just like we cannot survive without roads and bridges, the country does not function well without an updated census to distribute funds to areas that most need them and to support community decisions and their future.” Populationrecordswillprovideallthenecessaryinformationassociated with people, including the population’s size, age structure, educational attainment, labor force, and socioeconomic characteristics, unlike the manual method which makes access to data and information very tedious. (Gandy, 2005).The integration of different databases so that these databases can be merged and processed together and mainly other reasons, prompted the researcher to develop software for the Taraba state branch organization, National Population Commission (NPC).

1.1             Background of the study

According to Gandy(2005), Census taking in Nigeria can be traced to have started as far back as 1966 after the colonization of Lagos by our colonial masters. Since then, there have been several attempts to count Nigeria’s population. However, these censuses are characterized by some difficulties and deliberate and ill-minded attempts to inflate population figures; just in favor of one geopolitical zone or the other. This does not and cannot represent the nation’s image as regards the human population. As a result of this, the National Population Commission (NPC) was established using Decree No. 23 of 1989. The brain behind this was to have successful censuses each time as well as accurate demographic data. There is no doubt that this Commission (NPC) was vested with a lot of powers and functions some of which are;

1. To undertake the periodic enumeration of the nation’s population through census, sample surveys, etc.

2. To establish and maintain the machinery for continuous and universal registration of births and deaths
3. To collect, collate, and publish data on migration statistics
4. To reach and monitor national population polity and setup a national population information data bank. Unfortunately, Nigeria still relies on foreign statistics for population information.

Statement of the problem:

According to Marandel(2020), Due to the difficulties encountered in keeping demographic data/information and Miscalculation of demographic data/information, Difficulties in accessing demographic data/information, and time wasted in searching for a given demographic data/information on packed files including the Time wasted in processing demographic data/information which arises The need arises for the development of a computerized based census information system for the national population commission Taraba state branch

1.2             Aim and objectives of the study

The main aim of this study is to develop a census management information system for National Population Commission (NPC) Taraba state branch.

The major aim of the project is to design a system that will have all information about the human population and retrieve data whenever needed in society.

The objectives of the study are summarized as follows:

1. Todevelopcomputerizedsoftwarethatautomaticallystoresandretrievesallinformationon the human population in Taraba state.
2. Todevelopareliablesystemthatcouldbeusedincollectingdata/informationon the human population.
3. To eliminate the difficulties encountered with the manual method of keeping demographic information.
4. To provide essential information for government decision-making
5. To demonstrate increased motivation to the census workers.

1.3             Significance of the study

With the growth in information technology, the study offers numerous values to the National Population Commission Taraba state branch.

Huge files kept in the offices will no longer be there again because the information will be stored on the computer with the help of the database program.

1.4             Scope and limitation the study

It focuses ontheregistration,retrieval,andmanagementofinformationaboutindividualsin the Taraba state branch. It also deals with developing a database program to help in storing demographic data/information in the National Population Commission for Taraba State. This project is limited to all the data associated with census population figures obtained from the National Population Commission. Due to time factors, not all the commissions were reached for the source of data and information

1.5 Definition of terms

DEMOGRAPHY: Demography is the scientific study of the changing number

Of births, deaths,diseases, etc. in a community oversome time. Poston Jr, D. (2010).

POPULATION: Population is the total number of people living in a particular area,city, or country. Weeks, J. R. (2020).

CENSUS: A census is a procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population.  Anderson, M. J. (2015).

ENUMERATION: Enumeration is the head-to-head count of all individuals in a given society within a period. Sangaramoorthy, T. (201)

ESTIMATION: Estimation is the act of making an approximate calculation of something. Moultrie, T. (2013)

PROJECTION:A projection is an estimate of the rate or amount of something. Indonesia, S. (2013).

Project – Design and implementation of census management information system for National Population Commission