From Noah Ebije, Kaduna

Federal Commissioner, National Population Commission (NPC) and Kaduna State All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship aspirant, Mohammed Abdulmalik Duruguwa, has said overpopulation is a time bomb in Nigeria which may explode in 2050.

He noted that the nation’s population is growing fast which may make it the most populous country in the world, compared to the slim resources at its disposal.

Speaking with newsmen at the NUJ secretariat, Kaduna, he noted that incorrect data about Nigeria’s population figure was responsible for different crisis in the country.

“The NPC where I belong or my primary assignment now, which I will sooner or later quit is trying to do its best with the brain of the new commissioners we have that President Muhammadu Buhari sworn into office and with our national chairman, I am telling you that we are doing whatever is humanly possible to change the narrative for Nigerians because if we don’t know how many we are, we will never get it right.

“Another huge challenge we have at hand as a nation is our population. We are doing everything possible at NPC to change our narratives, else in 2050, if we are not careful, Nigeria will become the most populous country in the world because Nigeria’s population is growing more than geometrics, compare to the resources we have and that is why we are having different crisis in this country.

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“The youths that are involved in criminal activities like the Boko Haram in the North East, bandits, EndSARS protesters and IPOB in the South East are all our children. This is where we begin to manage the kind of people we have. Honestly speaking, we should continue to think about this thing and I am telling you, that God has blessed us in Nigeria with good journalists who can write things. In fact, some can even write things that can turn this country upside down, either positively or negatively.

“So, we must begin to send in the signal so that all of us can be able to sleep well and concentrate, because if we don’t manage our population, to God who made me, I don’t know where we will be running to.

“Any leader in this country that is not looking at this time bomb that is moving in this country, I swear, he is a liar and is not a true leader, such leader does not even know what he is doing.

“All these nonsense that is happening in Nigeria, can be stopped, but we need sincere leader, honest leaders. If we don’t have leaders with these qualities I am telling you, these things will not stop.

“Any time I have the opportunity, I will always want to share few things that can inspire people and also to portray that I have gotten the privilege to serve this country and I happened to be in one of those places in this country where we need to ask ourselves questions. In fact, if we all sit down and ask ourselves questions now, how many are we in Nigeria, nobody will give you the answer.

“We have a lot of issues in this country that is built around demography. We need to look at our demography critically. We have to look at the habitats of Nigeria and know how many we are and know who they are because whatever you are doing in this country, if you don’t have proper data or proper figure you can never get it right. And, most especially, when you have data or figures that are lies,” Duruguwa said.