The Resident Representative of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Nigeria,Ulla Elisabeth Mueller says more Nigerians would be pushed to povety over the next decade if the high fertility rate in the country is not controlled.
Mueller said this while supporting the comment of a co-guest on NTA news and current affairs programme tagged, ” Goodmorning Nigeria”, Margareth Edison, the director, Population Management, National Population Commission(NPC), who said that Nigeria was experiencing high fertility and low contraceptive prevalence rates that have led to population growth, which was not commensurate with economic growth.
The Country representative advised Nigerians to take the issues of fertility management and birth spacing seriously, noting that this was necessary for a happier and wealthier population.
” I think the slow down of the rapid population growth is critical. The economy needs to catch up with the growth of the population. The speed of the population is getting to the point,where economic growth is lower. That means more Nigerians will be pushed out to poverty over the next decade”, she said.
Earlier on , Mrs Edison had stated that Nigeria’s population was growing at 2.6 percent annually and that high fertility and low contraceptives prevalence rates were driving the population growth of the country.
“The current estimated population is over 211 million and the growth rate annually is 2.6 percent . This growth is national and across the states. You have different growth rates. In the northern part, we have growth rate that are much higher than that; where you have the average number of children a woman would have is beyond 7 children while in the South is 4.5.
“We have been experiencing high fertility rate and low contraceptive prevalence rate. They are running at par. The fertility is growing , Contraceptive is low. When women accept family planning, contraception, practice birth spacing then the fertility of that nation could be managed. But for Nigeria, the CPR is currently 12 percent and 17 percent for the overall CPR. So, those are the things that are driving high fertility in Nigeria”, she disclosed.
Furthermore, the NPC director said the commission is emphazing population management because the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was not growing in tandem with the population growth rate.
” You know we have a very youthful population where over 70 percent are under the age of 30. With that we have a youthful population that needs education, health care, engaged in the labour market. That is why the new revised policy is emphazing fertility management, birth spacing, education of our children, most especially the girl child” she noted.
Also speaking on the programme, the Chairman, National Population Commission, Nasir Isa Kwarra, explained that the goals of the revised national population policy were to reduce the rate of fertility as well as mortality rate especially of children and attain a transition of the demography from high young youths of dependency to a population that is productive.
He pointed out that the feature that differentiate the current policy from pre-existing policy was that the previous one talked about progress and unity of the nation while the new policy talks about sustainable development.
“There is also the issue of transition. Over the years we have seen how the population has transited to a chunk of youth population. So, those are the highlights. To address and invest in those youth population so that they can contribute to the growth of the economy”, he noted.
