Dons urge govt to implement population control policies

Hand population experts have called on the federal government to implement policies that control population and promote reproductive health.

Speaking during the first annual Professor Babatunde Osotimehin’s National Reproductive Health Legacy Forum in Ibadan, Oyo State, at the weekend, provost of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Prof.

Oluwabunmi OlapadeOlaopa, pointed out that “population explosion affects infrastructure.”

In the same vein, the guest lecturer, Prof. Emmanuel Otolorin, emphasised that, “If we don’t do something about contraceptive, we will continue to have rapid population growth. It is well known that poorly-managed rapid population growth has adverse consequences on the socio-economic development.”

The programme themed ‘Meeting Family Planning 2020 Goal: Wither Nigeria?’ was organised by Academy for Health Development (AHEAD), Ile-ife, supported by the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health at Scale (PACFAH@SCALE).

AHEAD is an indigenous non-governmental health research and development management organisation with core competencies in public health research, training, innovative programming, and evidenceinformed policy development and advocacy, while PACFAH@SCALE is a re-investment health/social accountability project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Wife of the late professor, Mrs. Funke Osotimehin, urged parents to embrace responsible parenting.

THE Tamaidukka Group (also known as TMDK Industries) with bias for estate development, oil and gas is to develop a $25 million agro-based industrial park in Kaduna State.

The facility is to make use of soya beans and cottonseeds for production of vegetable oils for local, industrial and export purposes.

The company’s chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Suleiman Leda, said the plant upon completion would produce 500 tonnes of both soya beans and cotton daily as well as 280 tonnes of animal feeds for same period.

He stated that the project would create 1000 jobs and market for farmers.

Leda said: “This move alone will create up to 500 jobs directly and another 500 indirectly, and it will guarantee a reliable market to 1000 farmers in Kaduna and neighbouring states.”

The chairman noted that the choice of Kaduna was informed by the effort of the Governor Nasir Ahmed El-rufai administration to industrialise the state and make it an investor’s haven.

The park, sited at Rigachikum town in Igabi Local Council of the state, is to be operational by January 2020.