Experts have called on the government to monitor the rate of the nation’s population growth at a symposium organised by the Lagos office of the National Population Commission (NPC) at the Lagos Airport Hotel in Ikeja. WALE AJETUNMOBI reports
With its population growth rate rising faster and uncontrolled, Nigeria, according to a report by United Nations International Children Emergency Funds (UNICEF), will account for one-tenth of world birth in the next 35 years. But, with the country still struggling to cater for four to five million children born yearly, uncertain future waits the generation of unborn births.
How to mitigate vulnerability of these unborn children dominated discussion at a seminar organised on Tuesday last week at the Lagos Airport Hotel in Ikeja, by the National Population Commission (NPC) to commemorate this year World Population Day.
Experts at the event believe the children are likely to be vulnerable to natural and man-made crisis, because of over-stretched resources. Except the nation puts a functional counting mechanism and monitors birth rate, speakers at the event said national planning and access to services would continue to be inadequate.
The NPC Federal Commissioner for Lagos, Mrs. Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin, who spoke on the theme Vulnerable Populations in Emergencies, said emergency situation occasioned by conflicts and natural disasters had become synonymous with developing countries, noting that there was need to review the humanitarian response to those with heightened vulnerabilities.
She said the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) classified high risk population in emergencies with “heightened vulnerabilities” and they include new born babies, children separated from the parents, unaccompanied children, orphans pregnant adolescents, women with infants and persons with chronic diseases, among others.
She said the objective of the seminar was to increase awareness on the plight of vulnerable persons and redouble the commitment t of the stakeholders to contribute to their needs.
She said: “The specific objectives include to evolve a sustainable solution in addressing the needs of vulnerable person and to ensure provision of requisite data on vulnerable persons for informed decision, planning and interventions. We will engage private sector to complement government’s efforts and galvanise policy-makers to take appropriate actions in the short-term and long-term to address the causes of preventable emergencies.”
In the last five years, Salu-Hundeyin said, the activities of Boko Haram insurgents in the Northeast has resulted in large-scale population movement in emergency situations, stressing that stakeholders’ efforts should be directed towards mitigating the suffering of victims in various Internally-Displaced Persons (IDP) camps.
While the IDPs may see their predicament as limitation to make their life meaningful, the Commissioner said vulnerable populations could also make contribution to the development of the country through spreading of peace messages and campaign.
She emphasised the need for accurate data of the nation’s population, noting that it would be difficult for the government and emergency-response agencies to plan without reliable data. Making reference to a recent boat mishap that claimed the lives of 11 school children in Ojo area of Lagos, she said uncontrolled population growth in cities is resulting in over-stretching of available resources and services, which, she said, is increasing human vulnerability.
On measures to address the needs and solve the challenges of vulnerable populations, Salu-Hundeyin identified steps to follow by the government and emergency-response agencies.
She said: “Government must address causes of conflicts and communal clashes. There must be collaboration between stakeholders and organisations that have expertise and capacity to deal with handling of diverse vulnerable populations. There is need for action plan at the grassroots level and government should empower communities with training and equipment that will assist the victims. This would reduce fatalities and put relief structures in place before emergency response arrives.”
The UNICEF representative, Mrs Sharon Oladiji, shocked members of the audience when she revealed the IDP camps could not accommodate five per cent of all persons displaced by insurgency in the Northeast. Many of the IDPs, she said, live in pathetic conditions in communities that relatively peaceful.
While health condition in the IDP camps is not encouraging, Oladiji said many of the victims of insurgency living outside the camps are faced with dire health challenges.
She said: “We have found out that many IDPs are living in various communities outside the camps, because the facilities cannot contain them. We have since discovered that many of them who are living outside the IDPs camps don’t have good shelter in their hosting communities. They face serious health challenges, even more than those being accommodated in the IDP camps. This is clear evidence that there has not been a concise data of the IDPs and coordinated emergency response to properly address the victims’ need.”
Oladiji identified lack of records on birth as impediment to the effort to get accurate information on the vulnerable population. This, she said, is also the reason why national planning process has turned out to be ineffective in catering for the basic needs of the people.
She added: “It is vital for Nigeria to have a functional counting system, so that the country can monitor its population growth and plan ahead of time. There is a new report that, Nigeria will have one-tenth of birth in the world in the next 35 years. This may be conservative because births have not been adequately recorded in the country. Except we organise our counting system and get accurate data, any plan to mitigate suffering of the vulnerable population would be ineffective.”