By Henry Uche, Lagos
Amid raising unemployment, inflation and general hardship in the country, the Managing Director, SPM Professionals, Paul Alaje, has put forward that Nigeria needs a population control Policy to check rising population rate like other countries have put in place. He made this known in AIT today on Moneyline with Nancy.
According to him, Nigeria’s population capacity is not at optimum, a situation where population growth ought to be equal to its level of productivity, he noted that it’s unfortunately that the teeming population rate is adding no value to Nigeria economy by reason of poor infrastructure particularly: roads and electricity.
Alaje said other countries like Saudi Arabia has a working national economic plan for its rising human resources but no substantial one exist in Nigeria. He decried the level of stagflation in the country calling on policy makers and decision makers to roll up their sleeves and do something tangible to control population and make it optimum.
The economist added that the various Social Intervention Programs of the federal government are not transformational hence the purpose is not sustainable and fails to achieve any meaningful goal. “We have 27.1 % and 28.6% of unemployment and underemployment respectively according to National Bureau Of Statistics, it’s unfortunate, our production capacity is very low compared to our population and the size of our GDP, but we have sound young people who are ready to deliver but they have no opportunity.
‘Nigeria has no substantial policy to control population, so we need to put some policy in place to this effect and make it optimum like Saudi Arabia who did same to less than 1 percent. We cannot be distributing less than 5000 Mega Watts to over two hundred million people. It doesn’t work. Both federal state governments must take up the task of infrastructure development urgently.’
He added that the education sector has aggravated the situation because many young educated people have no set skill to meet the current jobs realities. “We need to focus on skills not grades because the more skills a nation possess, the more guaranteed employment, stable currency and economic prosperities for the nation,’ he stated.