The Nation Newspaper

Tag: population

  • Kano’s population its greatest asset – Ganduje

    Kano’s population its greatest asset – Ganduje

    Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, on Tuesday pledged to deploy the state’s population to stimulate the economy and ensure growth and development.

    He also pledged to offer women equal opportunities to attain their potentials in life.

    Ganduje made the remarks on Tuesday when he visited 150 young men and women sponsored by his administration for skills training at Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria ( PAN ) in Kaduna.

    Out of the 150 trainees, 100 are males, and 50 females.

    “Population can be a liability, but we are making our population an asset, and the best way to make our population to be an asset is by developing skills acquisition among our youth.

    “We assure you, we are training you not only for you to work but also to employ others.

    “This government is very serious on women empowerment; days are gone when women still rely on meagre resources.

    “We want you to be earning good income, it is necessary for women, that is why we are exposing them to all kinds of legitimate trades so as to earn a living.

    “Once you are earning good income; it will contribute to peaceful co-existence with your husbands and families and that is what this government is doing.’’

    The governor disclosed that the government has built a N5 billion skills acquisition centre to empower and create enabling environment for sustainable skills in the state.

    Ganduje said his dream was to make Kano the hub of international trade attracting investors and traders from across the globe to the city.
    The governor faulted the current curriculum in the country’s education system, saying it can no longer sustain Nigeria’s manpower development needs.

    “So we want to break from that, the only way we can do it is to modify our curriculum.

    “To see that we have identified the necessary skills we need in our day-to-day activities, so that youth will embrace skills and be trained, that is the only way to ensure sustainability in terms of employment in the country,” he said.

    He said that the state government had commissioned a study which identified 24 trades which would offer gainful employment to the youth.

    “That is why we decided to build an ultra modern skills acquisition centre in Kano worth N5 billion.

    Earlier the Managing Director of PAN, Mr Ibrahim Boyi said the company was training the second batch of trainees from the state, with the first batch having 75 participants and 150 in the second batch.

    “The Governor during the graduation of first batch, promised that the second batch will include girls and women, and you can see clearly, the direction of the government in ensuring youth empowerment on inclusive bases, so that nobody is left behind.’’

    Boyi assured the governor that PAN would give the students the best training they deserve.

    NAN

  • Nigeria’s population now estimated at 193. 3m – NBS

    Nigeria’s population now estimated at 193. 3m – NBS

     Nigeria’s population is now 193,392,517 and there are about 11,547,236 vehicles of various types across the federation, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.

    In a report titled “Road Transport Data (Q3 2017)”, the NBS data also indicates that excessive speed was the leading cause of injuries for 6, 803 victims involved in 2, 478 road accidents during the third quarter of 2017 alone.

    According to the NBS report, 72.0% of road accident victims are men while women constitute 22.4% as male and female children account for  3.2% and 2.5% respectively.

     “Speed violation is reported as the major cause of road crashes in Q3 and it accounted for 44.51% of the total road crashes reported.

    “Loss of control and dangerous driving followed closely as they both accounted for 10.41% and 9.52% of the total road crashes recorded.

    “A total of 6,803 Nigerians got injured in the road traffic crashes recorded.

    “6,419 of the 6,803 Nigerians that got injured, representing 94.4% of the figure, are adults while the remaining 384 Nigerians, representing 5.7% of the figure are children; 5,110 male Nigerians, representing 75%, got injured in road crashes in Q3 while 1,693 female Nigerians, representing 25% got injured.

    “Similarly, a total of 1,070 Nigerians got killed in the road traffic crashes recorded in Q3.

    “981 of the 1,070 Nigerians that got killed, representing 91.7% of the figure, are adults while the remaining 89 Nigerians, representing 8.3% of the figure are children. 815 male Nigerians, representing 76.2%, got killed in road crashes in Q3 while 255 female Nigerians, representing 23.8% got killed,” it stated.

    The NBS report further gave details of leading category of vehicles involved in road crashes, states with the highest and lowest frequencies of road accidents along with states with the highest numbers of drivers’ licence and number plates.

    “Data on the category of vehicles involved in road crashes in Q3 2017 reflected that 58% of vehicles are commercial (2,000), 40.6% are private (1,401), 1.4% are government (48) and the remaining are diplomat (0).

    “FCT recorded the highest number of road crashes in Q3 2017 and closely followed by Kaduna and Kogi States while Borno and Bayelsa States recorded the least.

    “A total of 200,565 national drivers licenses were produced in Q3 2017; Lagos and FCT produced the highest number of drivers’ licenses while Zamfara and Kebbi States produced the least numbers of national drivers’ license.

    “Similarly, a total of 75,958 vehicle number plates were produced in Q3 2017; Delta and FCT state produced the highest number of vehicle plate numbers while Ekiti and Rivers States produced the least numbers of vehicle plate numbers in Q3 2017,” the NBS stated

  • IMF: there’s disconnect between Nigeria’s population, economic growth

    IMF: there’s disconnect between Nigeria’s population, economic growth

    International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, has said some West African nations economy, including Nigeria, is not growing at the same rate with their population.

    She spoke with reporters at the ongoing IMF annual meetings in Washington DC, United States (U.S).

    She said:“Sub Saharan Africa is one region of the world where growth is way suboptimal. Those countries (grow at) 2.5 per cent. That is too low for the demographic expansion of the region.

    “There are different countries if we are to look at Rawanda, it is a different situation from that of Togo and Ghana is going to be different from Mozambique and so on. It is still too low for the demographic growth. For that region to take advantage of the demographic dividend of all the young people, who are coming up and trying to have access to the economy and have a job, it is too low.”

    Lagarde said IMF would engage commodity-dependent countries on building up their buffers as such countries are not faring as well as countries with diversified economies.

    “We are engaging them in the direction of stabilising; for those that are doing well, build up their buffers and more importantly, diversify the sources of their economic growth.

    “What we observed is that those that are heavily commodity dependent are faring less well than those that are well diversified,” she said.

    The best way to reduce inequality within a population, according to her, is to reduce the gender gap between men and women, not making the rich pay more taxes.

  • Population bomb in Nigeria

    I have just seen a BBC documentary on future demographic development in Africa zeroing in on Nigeria and its neighbour Niger Republic. The thrust of the documentary is that if both continue at the current rate of growth, Nigeria’s population will nearly hit a billion by the year 2050. Nigeria will be the number three most populous country in the world next to India and China because India would have overtaken China by that time.  The documentary points to the unsustainable population growth in Niger Republic which is over three percent and that this should be a cause for worry for Nigeria because the excess always spills over to Nigeria. Nigeria in other words, is the safety net for Niger republic. In the meantime, Nigeria itself is growing at three percent or more on average even though there are regional differences and diversities in this growth pattern.

    The question to ask is what is responsible for this exponential growth in population in these two countries and what can be done about it. In Nigeria and Niger the main reason is cultural. Niger is largely a Muslim country while the far north of Nigeria is similar to its northern neighbour. These are Islamic societies where polygamy is acceptable and not against the Islamic religion. One young man in Niger was interviewed on the size of his family of four wives and 16 children and he readily agreed that he is not able to feed them and virtually begged for available contraceptive measures. He immediately became an advocate of all measures to stop this obvious population explosion.  One of the things the man said which the documentary highlighted was that he will encourage his children to go to Kano and Lagos to seek their fortunes. The focus of the documentary was on the Hausa speaking town of Zinder.  One interesting thing the government of Niger has done is to embark on massive family planning campaign including public medical contraceptive practice on women from village to village in a desperate measure to stem this tide of uncontrollable population explosion.

    Now what is happening in Niger as far as population growth is concerned is also happening on the Nigerian side of the border on a bigger scale because of its huge population. Apart from religious similarities, the two societies are largely agricultural with farmers raising large families to help them on the farms. The level of illiteracy is also high. This is responsible for the people not benefiting from contraceptive measures that would readily be available to the people if they were educated. The status of the girl-child remains abysmally low in human development index. Illiterate parents pay little or no concern for the interest of their female children other than just looking forward to payment of marriage price or dowry by their suitors.  Children, sometimes while very young in age, are married off to their husbands where they are turned into breeding machines. In the past, the high mortality rate of children at infancy stabilized and moderated population growth, but the improvement in maternity care means that more children survive to live in abject poverty to the detriment of their families who need to be taught that large families are no longer of any economic value.

    It can thus be seen that there is a complex interplay of factors that lead to this extraordinary population growth. The difference between Niger and Nigeria is that there is some fitful effort to address the problem north of the border but here in Nigeria nothing is being done. Population growth is not limited to the north of Nigeria alone; it is no doubt a national problem. In fact, the size of population has become political! Like in Northern Ireland where the Catholics are trying to outbreed the protestants  for political parity, the  various ethnic groups  in Nigeria seem to fight a silent and perhaps unconscious “crib” war because as seen in their census battles, population figures have economic significance because of their being tied to revenue distribution from the federation account. This means nobody is seriously thinking about population control in the country or any part of it.

    In the south-east of Nigeria, some men encourage and celebrate their wives for their effort in outbreeding their neighbours. Some communities give their wives and their wives ‘ parents cows when a single woman is able to have 10 or more children without caring for the health of the woman involved. The factors of illiteracy, economic demand for more hands on the field of farming or even trading and preferably their own children drive people in the south generally to have large families and multiple wives.

    In the south-west of Nigeria, the monogamous example of their Christian cousins tend to moderate the polygamous tendencies of the Muslim community .This can be seen in the apparent slowing down of the population growth in the South-west. This is evidenced by national statistics. As western education spreads, the culture of small families and monogamy develops in all people irrespective of the religion one practices or the region where one lives. There is no doubt about the correlation between family size and education particularly female education. With women staying longer in school, the years left for them to have football size families have been reduced. There is also medically proven fact of too many children leading to high female mortality. On top of this is the fact that our economy and food production cannot really cope with this huge population growth. The situation calls for a national approach to defusing this population bomb. There must be a national population growth policy that would have to be enforced. This must be coordinated with the leadership of the two monotheistic religions of Islam and Christianity, because the clerics of the two religions seem to encourage large families by their followers. Even the African culture of seeing children as gifts from God would have to change if we are not to be overwhelmed by a deluge of children. There ought to be a legislation to discourage multiple wives. I pray we do not have to do what Indira Ghandi, the former prime minister of India did when she started castrating the men which eventually led to an assassin taking her life.

    We are actually facing an emergency and we must adopt enforceable population policy and coordinate it with that of the Republic of Niger and perhaps other neighbouring countries of Benin and Chad where massive movement of people into Nigeria is currently occurring. People from as far as Togo and Liberia are flocking to Lagos because of its attractiveness as an economic magnet. The thought of Nigeria having a billion people 30 years to come is frightening. We will just not be able to handle it. Our economy cannot sustain or support it. We do not have the technology or the medical facilities to support such an unthinkable population problem. Lagos State claims one million people are moving to Lagos every year. This massive movement of people to Nigeria is pregnant with social, economic and political consequences. We must reverse this demographic trajectory by all means.

    Because of the freedom of movement of people and capital enshrined in the ECOWAS treaty compels us to champion a population policy in the region, the control of population growth is not only an economic but a strategic and security issue. The population of Nigeria is also very young .Those under 30 years is more than 60 percent. This means they are at the high reproductive stage of their lives. If serious campaign of limiting every man to two children is not urgently embarked upon, it will be too late. The emphasis must be put on men not on women. Some years ago we had this debate but it was quietly forgotten. The time has now come when we must take serious measures to roll back this economically crippling population growth and  a phenomenon which has become unsustainable.

    When faced with similar problems, China limited a family to one child and medically enforced it. As a dictatorship, the communist regime was able to stabilize population growth at zero percent although the policy is being relaxed in special cases. In democratic India, this could not be done and this accounts for India catching up with China. In Europe, generally economic factor of the cost of raising children has stabilized the population growth. In the USA, massive immigration has led to what is an unsustainable population growth and this is responsible for the rise in right wing nationalism. Latin Americas’ poverty is related to its huge population growth and countries in the region, in spite of being largely, Catholics with their aversion for abortion are doing all they can to stabilize their population growth. Nigeria has a choice to make and this choice has to be made. The sooner the better. The time bomb is ticking.

  • Can family planning save Nigeria from population explosion?

    Nobody knows how many Nigerians there are. In Nigeria, like most other African countries, census figures are usually subjected to political manipulation. In 2015, the population was estimated to be 183 million, according to data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the National Population Commission (NPC). A 2017 United Nations report estimates that in 2050, Nigeria will be the third most populous nation in the world after China and India.

    As a country, Nigeria is ill-equipped to cater for its current population. About 112 million Nigerians already live below the poverty line. A population explosion will lead to even more poverty in a country that is already struggling to provide basic infrastructure. Mass unemployment and mass migration to cities will become an even bigger problem. Crime rates are bound to rise as people flee the villages in search of better opportunities that are already scarce in urban areas. Infrastructure in the cities like roads and bridges is also likely to collapse under the weight it will be forced to carry.

    Nigerians are very religious and traditional people – this actively contributes to the country’s population crisis. Christianity and Islam have almost equal population, with very few people identifying with atheism and traditional religions.  In Nigeria, children are considered a blessing from God and the higher the number of children, the more blessed a person is deemed. To regulate the number of children a person must have is to try to play God.

    Islam, Christianity, and traditional Nigerian religions actively hinder family planning through their teachings, although Christians are more likely to use birth control than their Muslim counterparts. This is predominant in rural areas where religion is as a way of life. In urban areas, due to education and globalisation, however, a lot of young Nigerians are opting for family planning.

    Local inheritance laws are a major factor contributing to population growth. Daughters do not carry their family name after marriage and are not allowed to inherit family properties in some parts of the country. The pursuit of male heirs often results in couples having more children than they can comfortably cater for.

    High infant mortality in rural areas also encourages high birthrates. Parents are unsure which children will survive, so they have more as insurance.

    Children also help families make a living––they work with their parents on farms, hawk wares in traffic, and sometimes help beg for alms.

    In the absence of social programmes, children are also figured in retirement plan. They care for their parents in old age. The more children you have, the better the quality of your life later on.

    The need for effective family planning in Nigeria cannot be overstated.

    Other than its benefits to population control, family planning helps women take charge of their lives. Women who get married before completing their basic education can stay in school longer with family planning. Family planning helps women to limit their pregnancies; this in turn has direct impact on the quality of their lives.

    Proper family planning gives women a chance to engage in economic activities which results in increase in family earnings. An increase in family earnings means families are able to invest more in the education of their children. Family planning can help reduce infant mortality rates.

    According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) policy brief, family planning can reduce maternal deaths by 40 per cent, infant mortality by 10 per cent, and childhood mortality by 21 per cent.

    Some family planning methods – such as condoms – help prevent the transmission of HIV and other Sexually-Transmitted Diseases (STDs). STD diagnosis, treatment and counselling are part of the services included in family planning services. Family planning programmes give participants the information and help they need to protect themselves and their partners from unintended pregnancies, HIV and other infections.

    Family planning is also useful in preventing and managing adolescent pregnancies. Nigeria has the highest teenage birth rate in Africa. The NPC reported that more than 60 million teenage pregnancies were recorded in the country in 2015. Adolescent pregnancy has a detrimental effect on the education and future plans of teenagers. Girls who become pregnant have the tendency to drop out of school and may suffer social stigma. Adolescent pregnancy also contributes to the high number of infant mortality in the country.

    In a country with very limited resource to handle a population explosion, family planning must be brought to the forefront. Most of the family planning efforts in Nigeria are carried out by non-governmental organisations (NGOs). According to the 2017 Budget, Nigeria will spend N915 million on the provision and distribution contraceptive commodities as part of counterpart fund. This fund and its use need to be properly monitored. Government also needs to step in and tackle social norms which stand in the way of family planning. Not much can be achieved if people are not well informed.

    Most family planning programmes in Nigeria are targeted at women. This can be blamed for their partial failure. Men and religious leaders need to be involved if family planning will work. They need to be involved because they are the major decision makers in the society.

     

    • Juliana, a gender equality and community health advocate, writes from Abuja

  • Population, education and Nigeria’s cycle of poverty

    Nigeria’s population today is ranked seventh in the world at over 192 million and is projected to grow exponentially to over 233 million by 2025. This should be of grave concern to everyone, especially in view of absence of national economic plans that could provide jobs for the new addition especially when we are already confronted with a large numbers of idle hands.

     Basic knowledge of population growth teaches that population increase is only desirable when accompanied with increase in human capital development, economic activity and good governance. Frankly speaking, Nigeria’s population is already creating a myriad of social issues. Taking development indicators such as literacy rates, poverty rates, quality environment, social justice, gender equality etc into account, one cannot but conclude that our population growth is presently more of a liability rather than asset.

     Contrary to China’s population which manufactures and sells its products to every other part of the world, ours is a consuming population that lacks the will to adjust structurally for the better. Thus, our increasing population is a liability if we look at it from the mirror of pervasive poverty, illiteracy rate, unemployment and insecurity in the country.

     Except sincere national planning that adequately addresses the country’s population explosion and education sector that can groom entrepreneurs and inventors is urgently activated and implemented, poverty and various crimes currently plaguing the country will continue to be a major impediment to soci0-economic growth.

     Among the many assumptions as to why people commit crimes, the one that really stands out is the connection that crime shares with uncontrolled population growth, education and poverty. With our huge population, a lack of education is driving poverty rates; thus, causing those same impoverished and uneducated people to commit crimes. Unfortunately, what various tiers of governments are doing in education sector is not dominating our headlines as much as corruption does.

     Now in the light of recently released statistics of numbers of out-of-school children in the country, there is no convincing indication that changes would come as regard issue of poverty-induced-crimes. In addition to 54 million illiterates which put Nigeria at the bottom in the global literacy index ranking, Children-out-of-school is today a ticking time bomb that must not be allowed to explode.

     In what is clearly a national scandal for a country that is the world’s eighth largest oil producer, the UNESCO Education for All Global Monitoring Report (EAGMR) says Nigeria holds the world record of having the highest number of its young people out of school. According to the shocking report, approximately 10.5 million kids which translate to one out of every five Nigerian children are out of school. Though this issue has been a prominent one for a long while, it is now about time adverse cultural practices including forced/misguided early marriages, Almajiris phenomenon, poverty and child labour are accorded urgent national attention.

     UNESCO says Nigeria is among the four nations that have experienced the highest increase of out-of-school children since 1999. The situation is, therefore, deeply worrying taking into cognizance that the country returned to democratic governance in 1999. The situation equally provides an answer to why people are easily manipulated by ethnic and religious bigots for selfish agenda. It explains why people sheepishly get into the recruitment net of Book Haram.

     With the current economic challenges in the country, children that lack basic education will struggle to live a decent life as most will still not have informal education and subsequently enter the cycle of poverty. When people descend into poverty in that way, they naturally turn to criminal activities in an attempt to make ends meet.  Such criminal tendencies can take many forms. It can be something as simple as petty theft or it can escalate into money rituals and other severe crimes such as armed robbery and kidnapping etc. sadly, when people find themselves in such situations, they are rarely able to get out of it which is why it becomes a menacing cycle.

     The difficulty or inability of the average Nigerian parent to cope with the  requirements of basic education of the child is at  variance with Article 2 of the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child which stipulates that no child, irrespective of the parentage, circumstance or status should be discriminated against with respect to access to education. In addition, Article 4 of the Convention states that governments should make every effort to ensure that all children have access to education.

     Having raised the problems, the next is to address the way forward. To break the cycle of poverty and crimes in the country, the large number of illiterates, out-of-school children and joblessness should be viewed by all Nigerians as an indictment of our collective humanism more than the failure of government alone. We must accept that all of us are duty bearers (as individuals, religious bodies, media, NGOs) who must accept to play role to ensure that future of many more children are not put at the risk of illiteracy and social esteem.

     Having assented to and ratified the recommendations of the Convention in addition to affirming such right in Chapter 2; Section 18 of Nigeria’s Constitution, the onus therefore is on the government at all levels to review existing policies and funding towards reversing the ugly trend of growing population of out-of-school-children and illiterate adults.

     As this is national imperative, a series of Federal initiatives must emerge as the country might not be able to actualize its change agenda without making literacy a fundamental right of its citizens. This becomes imperative as research has clearly shown that the higher the rate of literacy, the better the potential to succeed and the easier for government to fight poverty, crime as well as reducing social injustice.

     Indeed, poverty not only lies at the heart of the factors that hinder access to education but continues to be the main obstacle to achieving the goal of universal education in the country. For government to successfully enforce compulsory elementary education, there must be assurances that access to educational facilities as well as provisions of the basic needs, most especially feeding, clothing and educational materials of the children at that level are guaranteed.

     It is, thus, important that State Governments where there is large number of out of school children brace up to the challenges by committing substantial part of their respective annual budgets into improving education. The time for warm words is over; the time for action is now!

    • Musbau is of Features Unit, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

  • Gates Foundation seeks emergenncy in Nigeria’s population growth  

    Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) has called for an emergency on population with a view to improving the quality of health of the people.

    Nigeria is currently the seventh  largest population in the world, with the predictions to become the third largest population by 2050 if rate of growth is not checked.

    With two and a half per cent share of  world population, Dr. Mairo Mandara, Country Director of the Foundation  noted that Nigeria is responsible for 10 percent of global maternal death at 576/100,000 live birth according to 2013 National Demographic Health Survey.

    To this, she said the knowledge of family planning is very essential; stressing however that the number of children a family should have still remains a personal decision.

    The country Director who gave a key note address to mark the one week 2017 World Population Day with the theme “Family planning, birth spacing: empowering people, developing nations” said: “ for Nigeria child spacing and family planning is essential for improving the lives of women and children and preventing maternal mortality.

    “Family Planning is essential in addressing the focal and economic challenges, social problems and health issues, so much so that it may necessitate declaring emergency if possible to address the emerging multi-challenges of high maternal mortality ratio, high child mortality rate, civil unrest, poor amenities in schools and social services for rapidly increasing population.”  She added: “ Nigeria houses the seventh largest population in the world and predictions potation her to become the 3rd in 33 years from now if the current annual growth rate of 3.2 percent prevails.

    “The population age structure is pyramidal with a very large cohort of children at the base. Women constitute almost half of the total population of which those in their reproductive years represent 50 percent of the entire female population. 11 per cent of the females are adolescents age 15-19 years and 23 per cent of these girls have already commenced motherhood. “

    While also acknowledging that the knowledge of family planning in the country is very high, she however said the practice of modern family planning still remains very low.

    Mandara stressed that using modern family planning method helps “ to time and space pregnancies in an effective way to improve pregnancy outcomes and allows couples to realize their desired number of children.

  • ‘We need new population policy’

    ‘We need new population policy’

    The recent motion moved by Hon. Babatunde Kolawole, a member of the House of Representatives from Akoko Southeast/Akoko Southwest Constituency, Ondo State, on the urgent need to control the population growth rate nearly tore the House apart. In this interview with LEKE AKEREDOLU, he speaks on why the government should pay more attention to population control. Excerpts:

    How will you assess the Eight Assembly so far?

    The 8th Assembly is doing okay. Though there was a little shaking at the beginning, the House is stable now. There is a legislative agenda in place, standing committees have been successfully constituted and inaugurated. They are up and running. And the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara has expressed the commitment of the 8th House to ensuring that Nigerians reap the dividends of democracy, through virile and people- oriented legislations. Issues such as security, unemployment and economic diversification are on the front burners. The Internally Displaced Persons, which are the offshoots of insurgency in the North- Eastern part of the country are receiving attention from the House so much so that it created a new Standing Committee for them. The House has even passed a resolution for the establishment of a Commission for the Development of the North East. If you also noticed, many of the motions brought by members are infrastructure related and have to do with things happening in their constituencies like roads, electricity, floods and so on. They are usually passed without debate because of its importance to the socio- economic activities of the people. It was under this grace that I was able to bring the motion for the rehabilitation of the Owo- Iyere-Ipele-Ago Alao-Owoani-Idoani- Ifira-Sosan-Isua Road which is a federal road and the Owo-Oba-Ajegunle-Akungba-Iwaro -Oke Oka-Okhia-Epinmi-Isua Road which is a state road in Ondo State. And the motion passed. This is to tell you that the 8th House is sensitive to the problems of the people and is doing its best to make things better.

    Can you shed light on the composition of committees in the House of Representatives?

    Like I said earlier, the committees have been successfully constituted, inaugurated and are up and running. But you are also aware that there were some disagreement over the constitution of the committees but by and large, the committees have been inaugurated. what is needed now is patience to allow the committees go full throttle. The House is barely needling six months of existence. Things are just taking shape. But nonetheless, from the morning, one can discern how the day would be, hence from the way the House is going, it is obvious that Nigerians should expect good things from the 8th House of Representatives.

    The motion you moved recently on Nigeria’s population provoked uproar in the House, why do you think high population is not an asset to the Nation?

    The truth is, I never said population is not an asset to the nation; it is an asset. But unbridled and unmanageable population has negative consequences. Everyone knows that. If at an estimated 166 million we are still adding about 5 million births per annum, there should be cause to worry. There is need to plan, otherwise, like the motion states, there would be pressure on the country’s finances and infrastructure especially roads, housing, education and  health. Also there would be a corresponding increase in unemployment, crime, poverty and so on.

    So, its was a great surprise that some members saw it as an attack on Muslims. That was not the intention or motive of the motion. The motion was simply asking that the Federal Government takes steps to manage the population, and that it directs the National Orientation Agency to educate Nigerians on the benefit of family Planning.

    The report by US-based Population Reference Bureau, PRB, is in public domain. and it states in its 2011 World Population Data Sheet, released in 2014 that Nigeria’s population would be 433 million by 2050 and that by that year, Nigeria will be the 3rd largest country in the world, bigger than the United States and next to only China which has 1.4 billion people and India’s 1.28 billion. That is really scary. So there is the need for urgent action by the government to forestall the fallouts of population explosion.

    What are your expectations from the Justice, Rules and Business and Population committees that are directed to look at the motion?

    I don’t anticipate any negative report from the relevant committees that is expected to further look into into this very important motion. This motion is about formulating a Policy that will ensure adequate planning for our present population and generations unborn. We will be falling short in the discharge of our duties as a   government if an enabling environment is not created for this teeming population to strive as it affects employment, security, infrastructure and the economy at large to mention but a few. You see, this is not just about Hon kolawole Babatunde, it is about Nigerians that have been thrown into a situation of hopelessness by the 16yrs of PDP misrule. We now have a government that has the political-will to translate masses-driven policies into action. I am not against any religion but passionate about our future as a country particularly as it affects the youths. We have seen this happen in developed countries and we cannot be left behind. There is no doubt that the committees will handle this task with the sincerity of purpose putting the interest of the Nigerian people first. I have the support of my colleagues, the change mantra is in place and change Nigerians must have.

    What is the state of the APC in Ondo State?

    APC is the party of choice in Ondo State. It is apparent that the yearnings and aspirations of the people are not being met. The visible desire of the people is for development, for jobs for the teeming youths who are the hopes of our future, for good healthcare services for both the young and elderly; for a responsible and responsive government; for qualitative and all encompassing education. The people of Ondo know that all these things are synonymous with APC. That is why APC is strong in Ondo and its the reason for the people wanting to be part of the change agenda. They want to be part of the party that can drive that change.

    Do you think the party will win the next governorship election?

    By the grace of God, APC is going to win the governorship election in Ondo State. Its not just talk though, we are prepared. The people desire change, we know their pains, we have the blueprint to eliminate this pain. And I believe Ondo State is tired of moving a step forward and five steps backwards. I am one of the numerous personalities that our amiable and Distinguished Senator, Prof. Robert Ajayi Boroffice mentored. Within the few months that I have spent in office, I have been able to further built the confidence of the good people of Akoko South East and South West in the new government. It is time for progress.

  • Reps differ on population reduction

    Reps differ on population reduction

    •’It’s anti-Muslims’

    There was confusion in the House of Representatives yesterday during a motion by Babatunde Gabriel Kolawole (APC, Ondo), urging the Federal Government to take steps to curb population explosion.

    Some northern lawmakers  said the motion should be trashed because it was anti- Islam, but others insisted the motion was in the national interest.

    Kolawole said: “A report by the United States-based Population Reference Bureau (PRB) in its 2011 World Population Data Sheet, released last year states that Nigeria’s population would be 433 million by 2050, subsequently making Nigeria the third largest country in the world by 2050.

    “The implication of this is that Nigeria would be the third largest behind India and China, even bigger than the United States of America (USA) and with only a 10 per cent of landmass.”

    He said although Nigeria had hit the 166 million mark, about five million people were added to the population  yearly.

    Kolawole expressed concern that the National Population Commission (NPC) was not researching and monitoring the National Information Databank and advising the President on population matters.

    “Unbridled population growth rate puts pressure on the country’s finances and infrastructure, especially roads, housing, education, health, economy, and is a catalyst for unemployment, crime, poverty, among others.”

    He prayed the House to urge the Federal Government to curb an eventual population explosion by coming up with a population reduction policy and direct the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to educate Nigerians on family planning.

    The first salvo against the motion was from a two- term member, Sanni Abdul, who insisted that the motion be trashed.

    According to him, Nigeria’s  landmass could accommodate any population increase, hence it was unnecessary to consider legislative intervention for population reduction, let alone for members to sit and waste time debating it. “It is a waste of legislative time,” he said.

    Balarabe Salame (APC Sokoto) said Kolawole was targeting Islam and Muslims, adding that Islam abhors population reduction.

    But Olowookere Ajisafe opposed Salame’s position, saying  “if population is not controlled, every other thing would be affected”.

    Intervening, the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, said the motion was not against any religion.

    He stressed the need to plan and decide if the country could absorb five million annually.

    “There is no attack, it’s about policy. It’s not against Islam or Christianity, it’s for planning. We must sit down and tell ourselves, can we accommodate five million more per year? We are representatives of the people, I don’t see how it’s against a particular religion, it’s for policies on population management,” Dogara said.

    He referred the motion to the committee on Justice and Population for “advice on how to proceed.”

  • Population profile critical to development

    The above title is a paraphrase from an address delivered by Eze Duruiheoma (SAN), Chairman, National Population Commission (NPC), at the investiture ceremony of Rotarian Alex Geolebedum, as the 34th President of the Rotary Club of Festac Town, on Saturday, October 17, 2015. As observed by the Commission Chair, there is a point of confluence between Rotary and the NPC “in the noble cause of advancing humanity through projects that have direct bearing on the people”. As he also noted, “the people are both the agents and beneficiaries of any development effort”.

    With a current estimated population of 187,301, 926, Nigeria he observed, is the tenth most populous country in the world; but by 2050, with an estimated population of 289 million, she would become the fifth most populous country. Quoting the National Bureau of Statistics (2010), Duruiheoma said, “it would be noticed that as the population of the country grows, the incidence of poverty also increased”. Observably “rapid population growth threatens food security, causes massive food importation that drains scarce resources and mounts pressure on the available arable land leading to excessive fragmentation”.

    From his analysis, the threat posed by high level of unemployment among the youthful population in our country, is even more precarious than many Nigerians may know. With young people who are aged 0-24 constituting 62 percent of the total Nigerian population (2009), high unemployment among the youths, clearly pose a grievous threat to the very existence of our country. The army of unemployed youths may indeed explain why the army of Boko Haram, suicide bombers, kidnappers, violent armed robbers, reckless okada riders, political thugs, street hawkers and other purveyors of security threats, seems to be inexhaustible.

    Going further, he informed the august gathering that “while the annual population growth rate is 3.2 percent, the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate is 3.5 percent”. Before the audience could get excited by the slight difference between the GDP and the population growth rate, the learned silkwarned, “though the growth rate appears higher, the economy cannot accommodate the rapid population growth and regardless of the fact that the country is rich in both human and natural resources, much more resources will be required to take care of the ever growing population that will over stretch the resources available for development”.

    President Muhammadu Buahri (PMB), the state governors, the local government administrators, and the Millennium Development Agencies (MDA), and indeed all agencies of government and the private sector,from that report, clearly have their jobs caught out for them. Grow the national economy and create more employment opportunities for our youthful population, if Nigeria is to survive.The realisation that the population profile is also critical to national security, may have informed the desperation by PMB to find the technical study, conducted by President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government, on how to channel some rivers to the Lake Chad, to provide economic opportunities for over two million people, relying on the lake for survival. That obviously will help the north east have respite, fromarmed insurgencies, like the Boko Haram.

    Considering that many state governors have borrowed from the federal government, which itself is substantially insolvent, to meet their recurrent expenditure, the future is indeed grim, for our dear county.For if they have borrowed to eat, how would they be able to save, to invest? And yet without investment in critical infrastructure, the much sought after employment opportunities, would remain a mirage.As the Chairman said in his lecture, “high fertility leads to high increase in schools enrolment and pressure on facilities”. He also noted that “scores of urban slums now exist in our cities with people living in sub-human conditions without decent accommodation, toilet facilities and infrastructure”.

    Perhaps the realisation of the inadequacy of government as the sole purveyor of development and the realisation of the enormous contribution of Rotary to human development, across the nations of the world, may have informed the interest of the NPC Chair, in the affairs of Rotary. Interestingly, the Rotary Club of Festac Town, has exceptionally distinguished herself, in the pursuit of Service Above Self, which is the Motto of the Rotary Movement. Giving a record of his performance in office, the immediate Past President of the Club, Rotarian Gabriel Onyema, confirmed that the Club spent over 25 million naira, in rendering humanitarian services, in the 2014-2015 rotary year.

    With the huge success recorded in the past rotary year, in service to humanity; the new rotary year, is expectedly going to be more exciting and challenging. According the new president, Rotarian Alex, the six arrears of focus for the rotary year, is, peace and conflict prevention/resolution; disease prevention and treatment; water and sanitation; maternal and child health; better education and literacy and economic and community development. He and his board which was also inaugurated by him, last Saturday, proposed a conservative budget of 22 million naira, for the rotary year.

    Instructively, in his address, the Chairman of the NPC, reminded the gathering of the National Policy on Population for Sustainable Development (2004), the objectives of which are “to increase understanding and awareness of the interrelationships between populationand development, expansion of access and coverage to improve quality of reproductive and sexual healthcare services, and strengthening and expansion of comprehensive family planning and fertility management programme”.The commission chair admitted that “the policy have not been met due largely to lack of commitment by stakeholders”.

    He therefore enjoined Rotarians “to help to sensitize stakeholders on the imperative for the review of the population policy … so that the nation can have a new National Population Policy that will embody our aspirations and determination as a nation”.