It is not news that family planning protects the health
of women and children as well as reduces ugly risky overpopulation burdens by
helping a family to plan and responsibly fulfill its parental roles.
The media is replete with many reports which X- rays
the roles of family planning in population control, more so in view of the
newest Nigeria’s population figures.
Nigeria’s population has risen to 201 million in 2019,
according to the latest State of World
Population Report released recently by United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Nigeria is considered the populous country in
Africa, yet it is only the fourth largest African nation in arable land area.
Nigeria’s annual growth rate of 2.8 % means the population
is growing by nearly three million people every year.
Nigeria is considered the populous country in
Africa, yet it is only the fourth largest African nation in arable land area.
Nigeria’s annual growth rate of 2.8 percent means the population
is growing by nearly three million people every year.
To put this in perspective, in 1911, the population was
16 million. It grew to 114 million by the year 2000 and to an estimated 174
million in 2014.
Based on the 2014 trend, it was estimated that the population
would nearly double in 20 years.
According to the new UNFPA report, Nigeria’s population
grew at an annual average growth rate of
2.6 per cent in the last 10 years.
Between 1969 and 2019, Nigeria’s population grew by
267.4 percent. In 1969, Nigeria’s population was estimated at 54.7 million
people, while it has now increased to 201million in 2019.
Today, the reality is staring at everyone. Keen analysts
say without urgent intervention through effective and strategic implementation
of family planning models, the country, already on recession threshold, is bound
to spiral more downwards into further socio-economic decline.
The rapid growth of the Nigerian population has widespread
implications for its present and future citizens.
On Nigerian campuses, students stand by windows to
listen to lectures and a typical room where only two students lodged in the
1970s now house up to 10 students.
Major cities like Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, Port
Harcourt, Kano, and Kaduna are already experiencing
an explosion in population; housing is overstretched, and a growing number of
Nigerians are homeless.
The rate of population growth is outpacing huge attempts
to increase employment opportunities in Nigeria, leading to considerable waste
of the talents of young people.
Food imports will need to increase dramatically as use
of land for building continues to compete with the use of land for farming.
Due to the use of land for building, by 1996, land used
for agriculture had reduced to only 266,407 sq. km, or 29 per cent of available
land for agriculture.
As available land for agriculture decreases, it becomes
more difficult to feed the growing population.
People in large families are more likely to suffer from
poor nutrition, stunting, and malnutrition, especially among children with broad
dangerous implications.
Although there is no single answer to the population
explosion challenges facing the nation, it is clear that the population needs to be
balanced with the amount of land available to feed and house Nigerian
citizenry.
By reducing the birth rate and slowing population growth,
family planning would improve the health of Nigerians, especially children and
mothers, in addition to providing significant socio-economic benefits.
Beyond obvious societal benefits, healthy timing and the spacing of pregnancies through family planning has incredible health benefits
for mothers and children.
Approximately 814 women die in Nigeria due to complications
related to pregnancy according to 2015 World Bank indicators. Women are more likely
to die when pregnancies are spaced close together or the mother is very young
or beyond the age that is healthy for childbirth.
Children are also more likely to die when they have siblings
very close in age.
According to a USAID-supported Demographic and
Health Survey report, if all women waited three years
to conceive after the birth of a child, 25 per cent of all deaths of children
under five could be avoided.
Saving the lives of mothers and children is now a public
health emergency. That is why family planning should become the greatest priority
of every Nigerian couple today.
This article was adapted from the Media Advocacy Working Group Family Being Column in Leadership Newspaper
This article was adapted from the Media Advocacy Working Group Family Being Column in Leadership Newspaper
This article was published in the Media Advocacy working group family being column in Leadership Newspaper
