By Mohammed Nasir Shuaibu (Bauchi State Correspondent)
The National Population Commission (NPC) said the Commission used gate crashers to fill up the gap of unqualified candidates during the training exercise in the State for optimal performance of the programs.
The Bauchi State NPC Director, Hudu Babale Tilde, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with NIGERIAN NEWSLEADER Newspaper Correspondent in Bauchi, noted the Commission had embarked on ten days of training from 26th January and completed on the 4th February 2023.
According to him, the NPC has recruited 1,690 facilitators and 785 special workforce ad-hoc staff for this year's Population and Housing Census that will train the core enumerators and supervisors in each of the local government areas of the State.
Babale Tilde added that the ten days of training is centralized in the State capital and was successful because everything went according to schedule. Additionally, the Commission was able to secure a good and befitting venue for the training at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) and Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic (ATAP) in the capital city of the State.
He said that, "We have a very good and conducive atmosphere in both classes and halls that we conducted the training exercise. All the facilities in the two venues comprising of exams tables and chairs, light and fans, were functioning very well throughout the training exercise",
Tilde noted that despite the calibre of the majority of those who applied on the Commission portal and possesses Master's Degrees, PhD Degrees, and others, the Commission had encountered little challenges from some of the candidates who could read the manual and were being replaced with good and qualified candidates.
The state director however, refuted the on-going rumour that the Commission did not advertise the date for the training exercise. He said that the Commission invited only those who were screened at its headquarters and were also invited for the training through text messages and their email addresses respectively.
He called on the candidates especially those that acquired the ten days of training to ensure that whenever the programs starts, they should be punctual at their respective local government area locations.
He disclosed that the Commission had an apprehension that some of the specialized workforces would not go to their places of assignment during the training. He added that those who refused to show up at the places of assignment, the Commission have all their identity and data information to use to get across to them because the Commission trained and gave them allowances.
Tilde however, called on those who have been trained and approved to come out whenever they were being called upon for the exercise at their respective locations in the local government area councils to avoid paralyzing the whole process, pointing out that two supervisors are expected in each class during the training session.
"We realized that the get crashes helped us because some of the candidates we invited for the training refused to come and we used some of the gate crashers to substitute the unqualified ones among the candidates earlier shortlisted for training.
"We're calling on those who we trained and approved by the Commission to please come out at their respective locations whenever they are called upon to report during the exercise to avoid paralyzing the program",
It will be recalled that the NPC, had, since last year, commenced preparation and the rehearsal of the 2023 Population and Housing Census across the 36 states of the federation including the FCT Abuja, after a decade. NNL.
