The Federal Government through the National Population Commission (NPC) has signed a landmark deal with Nigeria’s leading integrated technology brand, Zinox for the supply of the tech components for the 2023 national census project, further justifying the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s avowed stance on local content promotion.

The contract, worth over N85bn, was recently awarded to Zinox after ratification by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Zinox, which has already commenced supply of the first batch of about 100,000 units of the Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) devices required for the nationwide enumeration, emerged the undisputed and preferred technical partners for the exercise after scaling a rigorous bid process involving other keen local and international competitors. Feelers from senior sources at the Presidency and within the NPC indicate that Zinox stood out in the intense series of background checks conducted to affirm the capacity, integrity and ethical standing of the bidders, with the technology company also meeting the rating as an indigenous technology powerhouse with global connections which has consistently enjoyed the confidence of leading Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and other tech giants the world over, thus earning it an overwhelming endorsement by the FG for the project.

The 2023 census, scheduled to hold between March 9 and April 2, 2023, will be the fifth to be conducted by the Nigerian government since independence in 1960. Crucially, the enumeration comes 17 years since the last edition which was held in 2006 under the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

President Buhari, who has not hidden his desire to bequeath to the next administration a useful bank of reliable and credible data sets capturing Nigeria’s salient socio-economic and demographic information to underpin proper national planning, has thrown his weight behind efforts by the NPC to ensure a successful exercise. To this end, Zinox on Friday, February 3, 2023 hosted a high-powered delegation of commissioners and management team of the NPC led by the Chairman, Hon. Nasir Isa Kwarra where the first 100,00 units of the digital devices were presented to the agency.

The handover ceremony which was held in one of Zinox’s massive warehousing facilities in Lekki, Lagos, saw the cutting-edge features of the PDAs unveiled to a mixed audience, including representatives of the NPC, Zinox and sections of the media. Encrypted with census questionnaire and maps to direct enumerators to assigned enumeration areas, the devices were hailed as key components in the conduct of an exercise that would not only meet global standards but equally ensure accuracy of data collected.

NPC Chairman, Hon. Kwarra also disclosed that the software that would be deployed to enable and activate the PDAs was locally developed, thereby fulfilling President Buhari’s Executive Order on local content, as well as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) regulation on Local Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the procurement of the PDA devices. While noting that the 2023 census would signal a new dawn in housing and human headcount in Nigeria as there would be no over-counting or under-counting, he added that the devices, when commissioned with the forms, maps and other digital enhancements, would ensure that enumerators are unable to go beyond the areas assigned to them. In addition, he commended Zinox for the dedication, commitment and huge capacity displayed in the way it has commenced execution of the contract.

“With all enhancement that the National Population Commission is provisioning the devices with, e.g, the Mobile Device Management, we can monitor the enumerators on the field and ensure that the data provided by Nigerians are secured and well managed for their privacy. The geospatial resources that NPC has acquired will be deployed on the devices. This will ensure that all Nigerians are counted where they are and live. We will also be able to collect statistics on housing type and characteristics for better physical and social planning by government for the nation.

‘‘The homeless will be counted, tied to their usual place of abode, referenced with geo-coordinates; the Special Population: nomads, migrants, people in transit, etc, will be counted with geo-reference to where they are found at the time of the Census. Everyone will be counted because all Nigerians count,” he noted.

“Given the scope and number of PDAs to be deployed in the conduct of the 2023 Census, the Commission is confident that data collection for future censuses and surveys will witness profound improvement. Let me use this opportunity to assure Nigerians that the National Population Commission is irrevocably committed to positively rewrite the history of censuses in Nigeria and deliver to this great nation, accurate and reliable census data.

“I, therefore, appeal to Nigerians to join the commission in the bid to give our dear country accurate and reliable data through the forthcoming 2023 Population and Housing Census,’’ he concluded.

On his part, Chairman, Zinox Group, Leo Stan Ekeh, affirmed the long-standing record of integrity and excellence of the company, noting that the census project represents another opportunity to contribute to building a credible legacy for Nigeria, just as it had done with other national projects executed in the past.

“It is a privilege for the Federal Government to consider us among many other companies in the world. They know we have the capacity. We are deploying all our resources to make sure this exercise is successful,” he stated.

Zinox played a crucial role working with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in establishing a foundation for credible elections in Nigeria, first in 2006 when it delivered the nationwide voters’ registration when foreign contractors could not deliver after months of promises. It repeated the feat in 2010 when it designed and deployed the Direct Data Capture (DDC) machines which has helped capture and streamline Nigeria’s voter database, reduce post-election litigations and move the country closer to electronic voting. This contract, worth over $200m, was delivered within two months and acclaimed as the single biggest IT project rollout in Africa. Zinox is also acclaimed to have executed major projects on other shores, rescuing and stabilizing the technology backbone for elections in sister West African countries of Guinea Bissau and Gambia, in addition to other rollouts in Iraq, Libya and the Middle East, among others.