Why we should take population growth seriously

There are misconceptions about child spacing and family planning in Nigeria. When people talk about child-spacing, a lot of people do not wait to truly understand what it means and its impact on a nation before speaking against it and that is rather sad because there is indeed a need to take a serious look at this issue. A situation where the population of a country is growing far above its resources gives cause for concern. Based on available statistics, the nation does not have the schools, hospitals/ health personnel and even teachers to cater to its current population. We do not have the infrastructure to match the population.

For some years now, the nation has been battling the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east, in the Niger-Delta, we have the militant groups, that spring up under different names all the time. Just as we have other groups in other parts of the country. Also at the moment, the nation is battling kidnapping and ritual killings at a level never witnessed before in Nigeria. These groups/ crimes do not exist in isolation; they are a product of the larger society. They are among the many Nigerians who do not have something better to do because of the sparse resources.

As at today, Nigeria has a population of over 180 million and rapidly growing at about 3.2 per cent per year. The country’s population is also very young, with about 44 per cent of people under the age of 15. According to the RAPID (Resources for the Awareness of Population Impacts on Development) launched by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, recently, Nigeria’s development goals and objectives may not be achieved if something urgent is not done about the population growth rate. The document further pointed out that if Nigeria achieves its national policy on population for sustainable development target of annual growth rate of 2 per cent, 32 million fewer primary student school pupils will need to be educated in 2050 and about $22 billion will be saved. The data added that 52,000 fewer doctors will need to be trained between now and 2050.

Also, N2.8 trillion less will be spent on rice imports between now and 2050 just as 19 million fewer new jobs will be required between now and 2050. Now this document has captured the reality of things and there is no gainsaying that it will do the country a lot of good if attention is paid to it.

For some time now, a Non Governmental Organization, the Health Policy Plus, has been in the forefront of advocacy on the need for government, lawmakers and other relevant stakeholders to pay more attention to the issue of population growth and its impact on available resources. The Country Director of Health Policy Plus, Mr Onoriode Ezire, was in Bauchi and Ebonyi states recently as part of efforts to ensure that adequate funds are budgeted and released for child-spacing and campaigns are held to create awareness among Nigerians on the need to take the issue of population growth seriously.

The Health Policy Plus has also supported various interventions all aimed at drawing attention of policy makers to the dangers of a country allowing its population to grow far and above available resources. The efforts are already yielding results but there is still a need for all Nigerians to key into the project. Traditional, Religious and community leaders have a role to play in urging the government and lawmakers to provide necessary funds as well as come up with enabling laws that will help to check population growth. We recall that not long ago, meningitis wreaked havoc in states across the country with several people dead due to unavailability of vaccine. We also saw horrific photographs of mothers and children lying on bare floors while seeking medical treatment.

There is a need for the country to have the population it can cater to. A progressing nation is determined by the quality of its people. If nothing is done about the current population growth rate, the nation will not be able to produce people who can favourably compete with their counterparts in other parts of the world, because with so many people fighting for meagre resources, not much can be achieved. The time has come for all hands to be on deck to tackle this issue. Funds appropriated in the budget for reproductive health/ family planning should be released and utilised appropriately.