Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Foremost African demographer, Prof. Uche Isiugo-Abanihe, has raised the alarm that a worse form of insurgency and criminality loom in Nigeria unless effective birth control policy is evolved and implemented.
He gave the warning while presenting his valedictory lecture, entitled: “A Time for Everything,” in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ibadan.
Isiugo-Abanihe, who retired from the Department of Sociology of the institution, spoke against the backdrop of explosive population of Nigeria, which is projected to be 210 million at present and is expected to hit 250 million soon.
He said it may come with increase vicious circle of poverty in the country, adding that if right steps are not taken, persistent underdevelopment and the myriad of problems currently confronting the country would continue to retard the progress of the nation.
He however enjoined the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to expedite action on evolvement and implementation of birth control policy to avert the looming danger.
Isiugo-Abanihe, noted that population control remains the best option for the government in view of weak policies to address poverty, unemployment and growing insecurity.
Southern part of Nigeria, according to him, is experiencing decline in fertility and mortality, adding that the northern part of the country is facing persistent high fertility and mortality.
He said seven states in northern Nigeria have seven children per woman as against 4.5 in most southern Nigeria, noting that the poor are giving birth to more children without provisions for them.
As a way out, Abanihe advised government to have the political will of implementing effective birth control measures devoid of ethnic and religious sentiments.
“Poverty breeds poverty, a vicious cycle that plays out where the poor continue to have children. 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.
“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 socio-economic 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,” the don sir.