Religious leaders in Nigeria have been tasked to work towards supporting family planning in Nigeria to improve maternal health in the country.
This was the take during the Interfaith pre-conference session of the 8th Nigeria Family Planning Conference currently ongoing in Abuja with the theme, “Strengthening investments in faith leadership, community, and health systems for improved family planning programming in Nigeria.”
Speaking during a panel session, the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Health Sector, Dr. Salma Ibrahim Anas states that religious leaders are needed in family planning because several people believe them and tend to follow what they say or advice.
“Religious leaders are needed to join hands in reducing maternal mortality, and the government is ready and committed to the course. Together, we can create a feature where every woman will have access to family planning for productivity.
“Recognizing the health sector and its role in family planning is key. Everyone needs to invest to reduce maternal mortality, and we need to build a resilient health system”, Anas said.
Anas also mentioned that family planning needs to stand out to address complex challenges and understand the socio-economic challenges as it entails improving educational standards, reducing poverty, security challenges, and economic growth and development.
Some of the religious leaders who were on the ground pledged to enhance support for family planning in their various communities.
The representative of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Grand-khaleefat Tijjanniyah Yoruba FCT and Northern Region promised to preach family planning during congregational worship as they called on the various partners in the Nigeria family planning to make judicious use of the religious leaders while disseminating the need for family planning.
Al-khaleefat imam Junaid Abdulquadri, the Grand-khaleefat Tijjanniyah Yoruba in the FCT and Northern Region, said: “We will work at addressing religious and cultural barriers in the demand generation and uptake of modern family planning at the community.
“There is still a need to find ways to incorporate religious leaders in family planning. Constant training will win more spiritual minds about the advocacy of family planning. Faith leaders should be able to analyze and expatiate situations of family planning.”
Some of the Lead Discussant, Dr Kunle Omotosho, Dr Dele Abegunde, Dr Yusuf Nuhu and Dr Oyeniyi Samuel, all emphasized the need for all hands to be on deck to reduce maternal mortality and to create more awareness to men and together a future can be created for better productivity.
Family Health Initiative Ogun (FAHIO) has got House of Assembly Committee on Health’s nod for increase in state‘s funding for family planning kits and consumables to health facilities.
The group’s delegation, led by its Chairperson, Mrs. Oluwakemi Balogun, visited the Assembly at Oke Mosan, Abeokuta.
Balogun, said the government and individuals should support its initiative with funds and logistics for reproductive health to cater for maternal, child and adolescent.
She said funds for family planning were inadequate, causing insufficient planning kits and consumables in public health facilities.
The chairperson called on the state to prioritise health of mothers to enable them access free and qualitative family planning services.
Balogun noted more families and women have realised need for family planning or child spacing.
However, it is important for government to ensure proper budgeting and prompt release of funds for kits, consumables and others for free and quality planning services services in public health facilities’’.
Committee Chair, Wahab Haruna, said the lawmakers prioritise health of residents.
The committee noted the need for increase funding for health, particularly in family planning to improve maternal and child healthcare, as well as life expectancy.
• Okada rider’s wife delivered of triplets after four children cries out
• Says family planning device at public health centre failed her three times
Everything around their abode typifies squalour — a windy road dotted with craters, stray dogs charging at passers-by, a junk of cars-swathed mechanic workshops and kiosks of liquor vendors with men on drinking binge. The distressed couple, Emmanuel Olawale Jacob and Muibat his wife wallow in hopelessness in their dingy room at No 14 Ola Mummy Street, Pipeline area of Aboru, Lagos.
Still struggling with raising four children as an okada (commercial motorcycle) rider, life became a nightmare for Jacob as his wife was delivered of a set of triplets on December 17 last year, turning him into a father of seven children made up of six boys and one girl.
But neither Jacob nor his wife was excited at the news of the arrival of a set of triplets because they never planned to add any more to the four they already had. They, however, suffered a disappointment as the family planning treatment Muibat underwent at a public hospital failed and she got pregnant again only to be delivered of three baby boys.
“We didn’t plan to have seven children. It was the family planning treatment I received at a public health centre in Alimosho that failed me,” Muibat said.
“It was my fourth attempt at family planning. I had done three before and they failed, but did not result in pregnancy.
“I was assured by the health centre’s doctors of the treatment’s efficacy. I was told that it would expire by the end of 2024. I was however shocked last year when I became pregnant and was delivered of a set of triplets in December 2023.”
Muibat is a street sweeper attached to the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA). She used to sell foodstuff until she lost her capital after her husband suffered the misfortune of being displaced from his auto-mechanic workshop some years ago.
The birth of the triplets was not without challenges. Shortly after they were born, defraying the medical bill for their delivery became a problem. The babies and their mother were detained in the hospital for weeks until a kind-hearted man of northern extraction helped to settle the bill.
But while the couple were celebrating the gesture, they were again confronted with the shocking news that their landlord had sold the house where they lived with their children.
Muibat said: “Since I was delivered of these babies, life has not been fair to me and my husband. We didn’t expect three babies at all.
“At the hospital where I gave birth to them, we could not pay the money required for delivery.
“As a result, I was detained at the hospital until a Good Samaritan came to our rescue and cleared the bill.
“While we were still rejoicing over this, information got to us that our landlord had sold the house where we lived while the new owner had ordered that all the occupants must move out within one month.
“The small room the nine of us are sharing now is one of the storerooms in our church. It was given to us for free by our former pastor who has since sold the church building and relocated to somewhere else.
“Again, the new owner of the building has told us to leave by the end of this month (April), and we don’t know where to go to because we don’t have money to get a new accommodation.”
The 40-year-old native of Ilero community in Oyo State added that the cost of feeding the triplets named Ayobami, Ayodele and Ayoola has taken a toll on the family and she has had to find an alternative in a local cereal made purely from dry corn.
“We cannot afford the cost of processed infant food. What I have been doing now is to give them breast milk and cornmeal.
“Even at that, we can no longer afford the cost of preparing the corn meal and we need help from Nigerians with good hearts to rescue us from this hopeless situation so that we don’t lose these babies and others to hunger.”
Sharing his plight during the encounter with our reporter, Jacob, a trained auto-mechanic specialising in repairs of Japanese cars, said he was displaced from his workshops many times by officials of the state government who forcibly ejected him and others.
He explained further that he suffered a similar fate in other places where he got land to establish workshops, adding that he opted to earn a living as an okada rider after he lost his workshops and had nowhere to practice his vocation.
He said: “I didn’t start my life as an okada operator. I trained as an auto-mechanic and Japanese cars are my specialty.
“It happened that I operated from a workshop on Olowu Street in Ikeja and I was doing fairly well until state authorities enforced the regulations against the location of auto-mechanic workshops in residential areas.
“After we were forcibly ejected from the workshop, I joined hands with others to establish other workshops in about three places but we were displaced by land speculators who forcibly annexed the workshops and sold them to people who converted the places to residential apartments.
“I lost many of the clients I was servicing their cars who were patronising me at the workshops. Exasperated by my joblessness and piling bills, I decided to give okada a try to earn a living and feed my family.”
Despite his solace in okada business, Jacob could not get any enduring reprieve as he moved from one problem to another.
According to the 60-year-old indigene of Ado-Odo town in Ogun State, three motorbikes were confiscated from him by the Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences in quick succession.
“Having lost my workshops to the enforcement by state officials and land speculators, I took to okada riding but lost three motorbikes to the state task force who impounded them during raids on our parks at Iyana Ipaja.
“After the setback, I got two motorbikes and again lost them to robbery. One of the two motorcycles was stolen where it was parked in my house while the other one was snatched from the person I asked to operate it and deliver proceeds to me.
“The robbers that snatched the motorbike inflicted deep machete cuts on the man during the robbery operation.”
Jacob said his hope hangs in the balance as help is not coming from anywhere despite his appeals to certain public and private quarters.
“I don’t have a dime as I speak,” he said.
“Having lost my means of livelihood to robbers, I have taken a job as a driver of a school bus in a private school on a paltry salary that can barely feed me not to talk of my family of seven.
“I was so confident, based on the assurance of doctors that the family planning treatment given to my wife was efficient and that it would prevent her from becoming pregnant since we were done with having more children.
“However, it failed us, and my wife was confirmed to be pregnant shortly after she was administered with the family planning method in the early months of 2023, and she was subsequently delivered of a set of triplets in December.
“When she became pregnant, we had no money to do a pregnancy scan. Otherwise, we would have known that she was carrying triplets in her womb and possibly cried out in time for help.
“Although my younger brother assisted me with money while my wife and the babies were held at the hospital, he is currently battling sight problem and he has spent a lot on the treatment of his eyes.
“A few individuals I approached are not also forthcoming, and at the moment, the person who gave us this room, who is our former pastor, has asked us to quit this place because he has sold the building to a new owner.
“My headache now is how to get new accommodation for my family and take care of my children, especially the new babies.
“As I speak with you, the man who bought this property from our former pastor has given us till 28th of this month to vacate our small room.
“Initially, he asked us to leave by the beginning of this month, but after sending people to plead with him on our behalf, he agreed to give us concession till April 28, failing which he could forcibly eject us from this building.”
He added: “The cost of feeding the babies is too much for me. My wife who is currently battling a sight problem could have helped me a little if she was still working as a sweeper. But she stopped working when she became pregnant and has not resumed work as she has to take care of the babies.
“Every week, I spend about N5,500 on milk, which we mix with corn meal to support the exclusive breastfeeding of the babies, and the burden is quite on me to look for money to take care of my family.
“I am therefore appealing to the public to rescue me from this hopelessness through financial support to cater for these new babies and the rest as I cannot afford to watch them starve and die of hunger.”
Donations can be sent to a Zenith Bank account number: 2214525106 in the name of the father of the babies, Emmanuel Jacob. He can also be reached on his mobile phone number 08024067769.
Adolescent girls and older women are increasingly responding to family planning services in hospitals across Adamawa State.
Visits to some clinics in the capital, Yola, revealed that teenage girls as well as women between 20 and 55 years of age are turning up for counseling and to receive family planning products either to avoid unintended pregnancies or to achieve desired child spacing.
The development results from intervention from an NGO, The Challenge Initiative (TCI), which is funding family planning services and products in clinics across nine local government areas of the state.
The TCI rounded off at the weekend a three-day training on Media Advocacy for Family Planning which included a tour by particiapting journalists to some of the clinics where TCI-sponsored free family planning services and products are available.
At such clinics were testimonies by service providers and beneficiaries affirming rising responses to family planning services by residents.
The Director of Maternal and Child Health Care in Yola North LGA, Mrs Rachel Michael, who received journalists and officials of the TCI at the Atiku Abubakar Health Centre in Jimeta, Yola, said that after the TCI taught health officials to mobilise residents, large numbers of people are coming to the clinic to access the family planning services.
“In Yola North LGA, the TCI sellected four facilities that they support. About 3,000 women have accessed family planning services in Yola North alone so far this year.
In Jimeta, Maryam Abdulamid, a community health extension worker and family planning focal person of Nasarawo HC, said:
“Lots of people are coming here. Even today we received 24.”
The organisation interfacing with members of the public on TCI’s family planning intervention, Development Communications (DEVCOMS), says the intervemtion was neccessitated by gaps in family planning service delivery.
DEVCOMS Trainining and Advocacy Lead, Onche Odeh, said high level of misconceptions and low commitment from the government necessitated the involvment of TCI.
The federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in partnership with United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA), has introduced an innovation spotlight in Abuja to tackle challenges facing family planning.
The event, which centres on the challenges faced by developing nations, with Nigeria at the forefront, gathered key stakeholders to deliberate and strategize on amplifying family planning accessibility and availability.
A statement by the duo noted that the event looked into multifaceted topics pivotal to the progression of family planning efforts, while the discussions underscored urgency of innovative solutions to enhance accessibility and availability of family planning resources.
Security protocols emerged as a key focus, emphasising the need to safeguard sensitive information within the realm of family planning.
In his remark, representative of the Federal Ministry of Health, Lawrence Anyanwu, expressed robust commitment to scaling up family planning efforts in Nigeria, aiming for a modern contraceptive prevalence rate of 27% by 2030.
He emphasised the significance of private sector engagement, especially in family planning’s social marketing sector to the gathering, adding that plans were unveiled to host a family planning summit with the private sector in the second quarter of the upcoming year.
A major highlight of the event was the discussion on the indispensable role of the private sector in social marketing, particularly in the family planning sector.
The engagement of youth in family planning efforts was another vital aspect, recognizing the significance of involving the younger generation in the discourse and implementation of family planning initiatives.
In his address, USAID representative, Dr. Gertrude, expressed support for the government’s strides towards a total market approach to family planning.
She highlighted USAID’s commitment to private sector engagement as a strategic approach for greater scale, sustainability, and effectiveness of development outcomes.
The event serves as a platform for collaborative learning and engagement towards improved access to family planning in Nigeria.
“Team Contractek” duo, Ajala Promise and Adelakun Funmilayo, took home the hackathon championship with their innovative platform, Famize. Expressing their heartfelt gratitude, they explained how Famize empowers families through financial management tools and resources.”
Meanwhile, Abosede Lewu, crowned the spotlight innovation winner for her creation, Kiakia Health, offered a powerful statement on destigmatizing Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (SRH) for young women and girls in Nigeria.
“Kiakia Health isn’t just about medical services,” Lewu declared. “It’s a digital shield, protecting these communities through comprehensive education, accessible contraceptives, and timely STI screening, including critical support for HIV and other SRH needs.”
Lewu further highlighted KiaKia Health’s user-friendly accessibility, adding that: “Whether through our web app, social media platforms, or convenient telehealth services, we empower users to access vital information and services discreetly, right from their homes.”
“And for those seeking a more personal touch, our veiled clinics offer safe, private spaces for in-person care, preventing unwanted pregnancies and safeguarding against the spread of HIV.”
“Through this innovative approach, Kiakia Health combats not only the tragedy of unsafe abortions but also the silent threat of HIV among young women and girls, KiaKia Health isn’t just a platform; it’s a promise of a healthier, empowered future.”
“The Federal Ministry of Health and UNFPA are poised to implement innovative family planning strategies and construct a robust collaborative framework to address global challenges in promoting family planning.”
“The upcoming family planning summit with the private sector signals a proactive step towards achieving tangible progress in family planning initiatives.”
Last week, I explained and discussed with you some of the available contraception methods. We stopped at the injectables. This week, I will continue with implant type of family planning. Implant is, as the name implies, implanting a small device that contains hormones into the inner arm of the woman, being made invisible to the outside world. The device is slender, measures about 3cm in length, and slightly bigger than the common needle. It’s slivery in colour. Once implanted at the time of the woman’s menstrual period, it can last up to three years as a standard. The downside though is just like the injectables, small irregular vaginal bleeding may occur. The bleeding is innocent and you may not even bleed at all, depending on how individuals react to these hormones. Implant type of family planning is gaining strength and acceptance in Nigeria. The effectiveness is about 99 per cent.
Let us now move to talk about intrauterine devices (IUCD). There are two forms of these and there is vaginal ring. Vaginal ring is not a common form of contraception in Nigeria. However, it works in similar manner as the hormones. I will not be discussing it further. Let us give room to talk about the IUCD. The commonest in use in Nigeria is the copper -T (Cu-T). Once inserted, Cu-T may last up to 10 years. A very effective method, the downside of Cu-T is that it may go missing by falling out or migrate into the muscle of the womb. In addition, it may cause increase in blood loss during menstrual periods. Therefore, it may not be suitable for a woman with heavy bleeding.
Another similar device is hormone-based IUCD. The presence of hormone on this IUCD makes the difference. This device with hormone, once inserted, lasts up to five years. The beauty of the device is that it may cause complete cessation of the woman’s period without a harm attached. This cessation will appeal to women who finds menstrual period a bit challenging. Further, this device saves the menstruating women some blood loss and prevents iron deficiency. On the downside, just like Cu-T, it may be expelled or lost in the womb. Women with history of cancer should not take this hormone-based IUCD.
There is a plaster-like family planning method. It looks like a small plaster in every way. This device is applied on the skin every seven days. It works like any other hormone family planning. You can swim with it and shower with it too.
There is also a surgical method of family planning for women. Tubal ligation or tubal blockage is a method to prevent the female egg from reaching the sperm. It involves a small surgery, which is done as a day case in hospitals or out -patient. Tubal ligation can also be done by laparoscopy or keyhole camera surgery.
Let us now shift our attention to men. Men too can be involved in family planning. There are few methods available. I have mentioned the popular condom. Surgery is available too and it comes in form of ligation of vas deferens (vasectomy). The operation is simple and is done on a day case. Both the female tubal ligation and male ligation are effective and reversible, though generally it should be permanent. In recent time, equivalent male hormone contraception has been developed. It works like injectable female contraception. The problem is that it is not yet available for use as the developers are undergoing final testing.
For both male and female, an unintended contraception may result from such operation as castration of either male or female for other medical reasons. Hysterectomy in a woman is a sure-bet end to her ability to bear a pregnancy of her own. These radical surgeries should not be considered as a form of routine family planning methods.
There are other forms of contraception, which I have not discussed here. Some are information technology (IT) driven and some are intended to prevent infection such as HIV. In sum, in the last four weeks, we have been discussing family planning. I hope you can now go to your doctor to discuss your choices.
If you need support on what I have discussed here, you may call 08188343865 for assistance.
Last week, I informed you of what you should look for before you decide on a particular family planning method. In this week, I will take you along as we discuss the various family methods that are currently available. I will also point your attention to those methods that are in common use in Nigeria.
Natural methods: The most effective family method that never fails is abstinence from sex. You cannot be pregnant if you don’t have sex barring medical intervention, such as intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). Advantage of abstaining from sex is that you do not need to take any medication and you have nothing to worry about. Further, this method is compliant with almost all known mainstream religious doctrines and Nigerian cultures.
Next in line is Billings or Calendar method. This method is for those who are looking to get pregnant or avoid pregnancy by monitoring their time of ovulation. The problem with this method is that couples especially women may not be able to accurately determine their menstrual cycle to help them calculate the fertile or ovulation period. The advantage though is that there is no medication to take and this method is acceptable to some religious authorities such as the Catholic Church.
Still on natural method, is the Lactational Amenorrhoea, which is cessation of menstrual period in a breast-feeding woman. A woman who is fully breastfeeding her child is 98 per cent guaranteed to be protected from pregnancy. The main condition is that the baby must be exclusively breast-fed only. No water and artificial food from elsewhere. The hard part is that the woman is not so much free from the baby, day and night. Further advantage is that there is no medication necessary. No side effects of medications.
The next natural method is withdrawal method. In this case, shortly before ejaculation (release of sperm), the man withdraws his penis from the vagina. This method can be tricky as it requires strong will in the heat of the action and this is the reason for its failure: poor will and weak motivation. To be effective, the two couple must cooperate, focus and be determined to use this method. Failure rate is high.
Let us now move to barrier method of family planning. The most commonly used method of barrier method is condom. In this case, there are two forms of condom. However, the more commonly use or being available is the male condom. The female condom is clumsy to use but if desired, it’s available. Either way, use of condom requires strong will, determination and cooperation. Male condom should be inserted over the penis before sex begins. Similarly, if the female is the one to use, it should be inserted before sex and left in place for a little while before removal. Poor compliance with direction for use and unfortunate bursting of condom during sex accounts for the high failure rate of this method of family planning.
Another barrier method is the diaphragm, which is a dome shaped device. The woman should insert it in the vagina ahead of sex and preferably, she should apply anti-sperm substance or foam onto the device. If well used, it serves as a good alternative to other methods of family planning.
Let us now move on to another group of family planning called hormones. In this category, there are those that you can take by mouth as tablets and those which we call implants, rings or those which we call injectables. Implants and injectables are very commonly used in Nigeria.
Oral contraceptive pill has a long history and is well tested and is effective to the point of 99 per cent if used properly. However, a long term use is not for a woman with history of cancer, aged over 35, medical history of deep vein thrombosis and obesity. The problem with the oral contraception is that the tablet must be taken every day except few days at the end of each cycle to allow for menstrual period.
Injectable hormones can be taken every three months or in some case every two months intervals. Breast-feeding women can take it too. You can stop the injection at any time without much worry about your fertility, which will return shortly after you have stopped taking the injections. I should dispel one of the common complaints about these injections here. It does not necessarily cause women to put on extra weight. If weight gain is a problem, the user can shift to other methods. I will conclude the final article on family planning next week.
If you need support on what I have discussed here, you may call 08188343865 for assistance.
In last week’s article, I discussed some background to the campaign of family planning. I gave you some of the burden of having children that you may not be able to look after. I will continue from where I stopped last week. With this in mind, the reader can see the damage that unplanned pregnancy can do. The psychological and physical complications are huge indeed.
Of recent, the federal government has started to campaign on the need for uptake of family planning in the country. I suppose we should pay attention and heed the call. Not just yourself, the nation of Nigeria is burdened with unwanted children and poorly trained children that are neither productive not useful to the society. Apart from the high expenditure that poor family planning brings upon the family, the women that bear these children suffer from depletion of their body reserves. Women suffer from poor career attainment too. The nation pays an astronomical price for poor family planning. Here is another excerpt, which I have copied from my upcoming book: Beyond Fears: A Practical Information Guide on How to Live, Work and Do Business in Nigeria. “Driven by poverty, children are employed when they should not. In 2006, the number of child workers was estimated at about 15 million, according to Information Sheet – Child Labour in Nigeria, UNICEF 2006.”
What should you have in mind before you decide on family planning? The first thing to decide with your spouse is how many children you can both take good care of. Your ability may be for one child or two or five or none at all. You will need to consider your own personal needs and your own health.
Determine the current financial commitments to look after a child from pregnancy, medical care, housing, school fees, clothing and so forth. Multiply these expenses by the likely number of children that you want. Add your own and spouse’s likely expenses. These final figures, accounting for inflation, will give you the task that you are up against. Now judge these figures against your own income or family revenue. Is it enough for you?
The next issue you need to know is that one type of family planning method may not necessarily be suitable for you. The fact that one person finds a method good may not imply that you will like it. The third factor to decide upon is which of you couple or in a relationship should take the family planning. I must say that majority of family planning are focused on women. Sadly, women bear most of the contraceptive procedures. For a long time and for all the wrong reasons, the burden of family planning has fallen on women. Thankfully, we now have new suitable methods for men, as we shall see later: those men can make significant impact by taking up a contraceptive method instead of the women. If one method of contraception fails or not suitable, you should consult your doctor to change it. I have seen couples who gave up on family planning because of side effects, but ended up with subsequent devastating effect of unwanted pregnancies.
While some very effective family planning methods are very cheap, available and effective, some others may be a bit pricey or not available. Your doctor or nurse will take you through them all so that you can decide on what is good for you. The final information you should know is that when family methods are used strictly as directed or as it’s supposed to be used, then you can be assured that your chosen method will work effectively barring a very small chance of failure. In effect, in family planning, there is nothing that can give you a 100 per cent guarantee. In all, family planning is worth trying. Next week, I will discuss the various methods that are available for family planning. If you need support on what I have discussed here, you may call 08188343865 for assistance.
Contraception in professional terms is popularly known as family planning. Few events in medical practice invoke such a great motion as family planning. Perhaps, nothing is as distressing and confusing to an individual when a pregnancy has to be terminated. By its very nature, notwithstanding the law, termination of pregnancy, as we shall see, is not a decent or even ethically convenient method of childbearing control. Nevertheless, it happens so often in Nigeria.
In order not to undergo the dilemma and distress of termination of pregnancy, a most worthy alternative is to plan your family now. For this reason, I will be dealing with the issue of contraception in the articles that follow. Family planning, to put it simply, is a procedure or method to control the number of children and or pregnancy that the family or couple can look after. The word “look after” will mean, from conception to when the child will reach adulthood at age 18, or if the child remains in school till age of 21 or more, the reasonable care and attention that the family can give the child to become useful to himself/herself and the society. That is, the care and attention that the parents can give to the child to make him/her to be economically productive. After all, what is the point of having a child that is a burden to the parents and society?
To fully understand the magnitude of the issue on Nigeria’s national scale, let me take some excerpts from my up-coming book: Beyond Fears: A Practical Information Guide on How to Live, Work and Do Business in Nigeria. Data crunching may not be to the taste of everyone. However, you need the data in order to fully understand the magnitude of the issue. Nigeria ranks amongst the top 10 most populated countries in the world. According to United Nations data as of 2018, Nigeria’s population stands as 195,875,000. By another estimate, by February of 2019, Nigeria’s population is about 198,924,841, according to World Population Review.
“The above accounts place Nigeria as the seventh most populous country in the world. The population density is about 217/sqkm and a population growth rate of 2.6 per cent annually. At the current rate, the current projections for 2050 are over 390 million total residents. At current estimate, you may wish to know that 51.9 per cent of the population is urban (104,282,822 people in 2019) with median age of 17.9 years. The fertility rate as at February 2019 is 5.67, according to World Meters population figures. Most of the population is a young population, with 42.54 per cent between the ages of 0–14. There is also a very high dependency ratio of the country at 88.2 dependents per 100 non-dependents, according to Wikipedia.
“The proportion of children under the age of 15 in 2010 was 44.0 per cent; 53.2 per cent was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.7 per cent was 65 years or older. There are, according to estimates, about 1.04 males to every one female in the country. You should take note though that while women are slightly outnumbered by men, after the age of 65, the population of women outnumber men. The life expectancy in Nigeria is, to put it mildly, pathetic: being unfortunately, the lowest in all of West Africa. The average life expectancy is around 54.5 years of age, according to WHO data; with men living an average of 53.7 years and women living an average of 55.4 years.
“This very low numbers of life expectancies can be attributed to the fact that the country has many health issues. In terms of access to clean drinking water, 68.5 per cent of Nigerians have improved means of access while 31.5 per cent still struggle to get clean water. Similarly, when examining the access to sanitation facilities, only 29 per cent of the entire populace of Nigeria has access to improved sanitation as compared to the 71 per cent that are still struggling. The average number of years spent in school here in Nigeria is approximately nine years, with national literacy rate of 59.6 per cent.”
While these figures represent a good economic potential, the infrastructure to support and tap the potentials are lacking. Further, the burden of looking after a new child is phenomenon. In my earlier article, I discussed the burden of abortions in Nigeria. Let me again, bring this to the fore: Illegal abortion rate is huge and goes on even without direct involvement of qualified healthcare workers. In fact, according to Guttmacher Institute, “an estimated 1.25 million induced abortions occurred in Nigeria in 2012, equivalent to a rate of 33 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–49. The estimated unintended pregnancy rate was 59 per 1,000 women aged 15–49. Fifty-six per cent of unintended pregnancies were resolved by abortion. About 212,000 women were treated for complications of unsafe abortion, representing a treatment rate of 5.6 per 1,000 women of reproductive age, and an additional 285,000 experienced serious health consequences but did not receive the treatment they needed.” If you need support on what I have discussed here, you may call 08188343865 for assistance.
The wife of Ebonyi State Governor, Mrs Rachael Umahi, has urged the Mile 4 Maternity Hospital, Abakaliki, to introduce family planning methods to parents of first babies of the year.
Mrs Umahi said this while welcoming the first Baby of the Year yesterday in Abakaliki.
She said the method would help the family to control further child bearing and to reduce the difficulty of bringing them up.
The couple, Mr Joseph and Mrs Mary Nwojiji, from Ebonyi Local Government, told the governor’s wife the baby was their 10th child.
Mrs Umahi, congratulating the family, said she was happy the New Year recorded a new born, and prayed for God’s blessing for the baby and her parents.
“We thank God for what he has blessed us with on the first day of 2019. It is a victorious year for us,” Mrs Umahi said.
The Hospital Administrator, Rev. Sister Charity Munnoye, said the baby was female, born at 12 am, weighed 4.1 kg at birth, and was normal delivery.
Munnoye hailed Mrs Umahi for her benevolence to women and children.
The couple, in their separate responses, thanked the governor’s wife, praying God continues to bless her family.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the governor’s wife donated gifts to the baby, her mother and other babies.
