By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
A foremost African demographer, Professor Uche Isiugo-Abanihe has asked the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to formulate and implement birth control policy to avert greater insurgency and criminality.
Presenting his valedictory lecture in the faculty of the Social Sciences entitled “A Time for Everything”, he declared that there is the need for the country to have effective birth control measure in place as a way of averting these looming dangers in the country
Professor Abanihe maintained thatNigeria’s large population base, with its rapid rate of growth, “is the root cause of its persistent underdevelopment and the myriads of problems currently confronting the country,”.
According to Professor Abanihe, there is no doubt in the fact that ” population control remains the best option for the government in view of weak policies to address poverty, unemployment and growing insecurity.”, saying, while the Southern part of Nigeria ” is experiencing decline in fertility and mortality, the Northern part is facing persistent high fertility and mortality.”.
Specifically, Professor Abanihe stated that “seven states in Northern Nigeria have 7 children per woman as against 4.5 in most southern Nigeria “.
“Seven states in northern Nigeria have fertility rates above 7 children per woman relative to rates about 4.5 in most states in the South. Also throughout the country, the poor have higher fertility relative to the rich or well-to-do. Poverty breeds poverty, a vicious cycle that plays out where the poor continue to have children.”, he said.
Professor Abanihe added, “the Nigerian poor are having children who will be caught up in poverty and constitute the miscreants of tomorrow. Obviously, large numbers of young people in Nigeria can represent great economic potential, but only if families and governments can adequately invest in their health and education and stimulate new economic opportunities for them”.
Emphasizing that it was unfortunate that the poor are giving birth to more children without provisions for them. Professor Abanihe charged the government to have the political will of implementing effective birth control measures devoid of ethnic and religious sentiments.
“There must be a strong political will by the government to adopt fertility control measures, and eschew political, ethnic and religious reasons for lack of action. If government fails to take well advised actions, and aggressively too, the socioeconomic problems of Nigeria will be compounded and the current state of poverty, insurgency, banditry, insecurity and criminality in the country may be a child’s play relative to what the future holds.”
