NIGERIA'S HEAD COUNT?

Nigeria's counting controversy.
By Sola Odunfa BBC Focus on Africa magazine.

The census dictates who really holds power. No-one knows how many Nigerians there are - and the authorities are too afraid to find out. Legend has it that one out of every five black people on Earth is a Nigerian. But that can only be an assumption, for every headcount held in Nigeria in the past 30 years has ended in national controversy and with strong allegations of population inflation.

The last census was carried out in 1991. Its figures - which are regarded only as being marginally less manipulated than the others - put the total population at 88.9 million, almost equally divided between the two sexes.

Since then the population has been projected on an annual growth rate of about 2.9%. The official projected figure for 2003 was 126 million.