A LESSON FROM CHINA
China holds lessons for Nigeria,
China is fast establishing itself as a new world power especially in the world of commerce. The 20th century arguably was dubbed the American century. Considering the new Chinese economic revolution the 21st century is obviously the Chinese century. China is the cynosure of all eyes at the moment. The Chinese economic power is bringing about a shift in world power from the hitherto world powers to comparatively “underdogs” which used to feed fat from the crumbs that fell from the table of the super powers. Unlike the US-China trade war China is entering the market with unprecedented trade relationships with developing countries which would be of benefit to China as well as the developing countries. Everybody needs China at the moment. President Buhari has just returned from China. (He was in China earlier this year and signed a currency swap with China). With its new technology, large-scale infrastructure and human capital China has been building and developing many capital projects in Africa over the last three decades.
In Nigeria, the Chinese are everywhere. The Nigerian markets are flooded with both genuine and fake Chinese products. The sad aspect is that the Chinese are taking over many jobs which most young unemployed Nigerians regard as menial jobs or jobs for the never-do-wells. While a typical Nigerian unemployed graduate is happy roaming the streets in search of elusive oil-company jobs, the Chinese boys, in their simple shorts and T-shirts are taking over the so-called abandoned menial jobs and excelling in them. Very soon China boys would start invading Nigerian villages to take the abandoned farm lands and use them for intensive mechanised agriculture.
In launching itself out as the new economic superpower, China has been able to convert its huge population into a marketable asset. Like India, China is reaping dividends from its growing population. Instead of sitting down and lamenting about its bourgeoning population, China reaped enormous demographic dividends from their respective large populations in the last 30 years. China now perceives its population as its power. You will recall that for about four decades the Chinese government has imposed one-child policy and subsequently two-child policy in China. The policy was aimed at radically reducing the birth rates in China. The strange phenomenon is referred to as the female gendercide or war on baby girls. Under the policy, the human rights of millions Chinese women were violated as they were forced to undergo abortion, sterilisation, IUD insertion. But unfortunately the policy backfired on China. One of the negative repercussions of the policy was the gender imbalance (male-female imbalance) in China. Under a screaming cover entitled: “Gendercide: What happened to 100 million baby girls?” the London Economist, March 6th to 12th edition 2010 decried the tragedy. The implementation of the birth limits put enormous pressure on many families to have preference for boys for inheritance reasons. Consequently the girl-child was killed in the womb. Once the test showed that the child in the womb was a girl she was automatically sentenced to death and killed. As
IN LAUNCHING ITSELF OUT AS THE NEW ECONOMIC SUPERPOWER, CHINA HAS BEEN ABLE TO CONVERT ITS HUGE POPULATION INTO A MARKETABLE ASSET
a result the male population in China outstripped that of the female. Young men below the age of 20 exceeded their female counterpart with 32 million thus creating a whopping malefemale gender gap and imbalance. Marriageable Chinese young men could not find Chinese females to marry because there was scarcity of females in China.
In order to remedy this abnormally the Chinese authorities have now relaxed the implementation of the birth-limit laws in China. China is growing old. It does not want to evaporate from the face of the earth. Therefore the Chinese authorities have resolved to scrap the birth control policy. The implication of scrapping the birth control policy in China is that the Chinese parents would exercise their fundamental human rights and have the number of children they want. Under the title, Gendercide: The war on Baby girls winds down, The London Economist reported that China, India, Pakistan, Vietnam and South Caucasus have abandoned their birth-limit laws because these laws have engendered a catastrophic gender crises in their countries. The report stated that the Chinese authorities have allowed Chinese women to return to the state of nature, that is, to start giving birth to children without any restrictions. The immediate fruit of this is already being reaped. The sex ratios in China are becoming normal. According to Bloomberg article, the scrapping of birth control in China would not lead to a baby boom in China because not all Chinese women are even capable of giving birth to children. In scrapping the birth control policy the Chinese government is implementing the “independent fertility policy” that would boost the birth rate in China.
The Chinese example is a big lesson for Nigeria. In Nigeria, the birth control methods are being imposed on Nigerian women and girls by the Federal Ministry of Health, National Population Commission (NPC), government hospitals and others. The methods range from the emergency contraceptive morning after pills to the hormonal ones, such as birth control shot, contraceptive patch, IUD and Implant and others. The tragedy is that some of these birth control methods are irreversible methods, otherwise known as permanent contraception methods, which include tubal implants and vasectomy. If the birth control policy is hurting China and it has now resolved to scrap it in order to implement the “independent fertility policy”, why is Nigeria implementing a “birth control policy”? Nigeria should scrap the “birth control policy”. To begin with, the “birth control policy” is illegal and unconstitutional. It is a violation of the human rights of Nigerian woman and girls. China is conquering the world today thanks to the vibrant young people that constitute the Chinese population. The Chinese economy has been growing steadily in the last 20 years (in fact it the fastest growing economy in the world today). Nigeria should learn from China. The vibrant young people that constitute the bulk of Nigerian population should not be seen as a burden rather should be seen as a vibrant work force that should be used to fast-track Nigeria’s economic growth.