Census is the counting of the population. It is an exercise designed to collect the actual number (size, age, sex) of a country’s population.
USES/IMPORTANCE OF CENSUS
- It is used by government to know the size, sex, and age of its population
- It is equally used by government to ascertain the geographical and occupational distribution of the population.
- It is used for the purpose of planning.
- It is used for revenue allocation.
- It is used for fair distribution of the country’s limited resources to different parts of the country.
- It is used to know the number of jobless people in the country.
- It is used to determine the size of foreign loans and aids.
- Used to ascertain the economic standard of a country.
PROBLEMS OF CENSUS COUNTING IN WEST AFRICA
1. It is exorbitant to conduct.
2 Lack of materials and facilities also hampers a successful census counting.
3 Lack of technological and scientific know-how.
4. Lack of good roads especially in rural areas.
5. High level of illiteracy and ignorance among the populace.’
6. Population figures of some places are sometimes inflated,
7. High rate of corruption among the census officials.
8. Shortage of qualified census-enUmet0t and supervisors.
9. Publication of census results are delayed