Why national population policy is vital
The last national population policy, which was based on the 1999 census, has since outlived its usefulness and cannot tackle present day issues and developments. And as such we need a new population policy as soon as possible. This is because so many things have changed between when the last policy was formulated and now. It was also based on the Millennium Development Goals which has since ended.
That is why the HP+, a USAID funded non-governmental organisation recently presented a revised national population policy to the board of the National Population Commission. The Country Director of the project, Onoriode Ezire, noted that there have been emerging issues since the last policy was formulated. He said they included the increasing number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) issue of flood in parts of the country that need to be tackled, new diseases among others. He also harped on the importance of a population policy that will be in tandem with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The duty of a population policy in the development of a nation cannot be over-emphasised as it goes a long way in helping policy makers to plan for the country. Already, the new document has pointed out that the population of the country is unevenly distributed. It showed that at the moment, at least 70 per cent of Nigerians live below the national poverty level. Nigeria is by far the most populous country in the world.
The Nigerian population is now estimated to be growing by about 2.9 per cent per year. And experts have noted that at that rate, the population will double in size in just 24 years. This also means that Nigeria has one of the fastest growing populations in the world. The urban areas have grown by about 3.7 per cent per annum in the past decade. The proportion of the population that is urban is currently estimated to be about 39 per cent and some projections show the proportion rising to 42 per cent in 2010 and 46 per cent in 2020. All these are issues that a population policy can help to address. The document also noted that fertility is a major determinant of growth rate of a population. It pointed out that although there is some evidence of a slight decline, the level of child bearing has been historically high in Nigeria.
There is therefore a need for that issue to be addressed. The federal government needs to urgently launch this policy document and put it to use as it will in no small measure contribute to sustainable development in Nigeria and provide basis for improved and more effective population and development management. The policy also addresses the relationships between population, social and economic development and the environment.
It further tackled the issues of poverty, literacy, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections among others. The good part is that already, there is a Strategic Implementation Plan which will aid the smooth execution of activities provided for in the revised population policy document.