Population: Nigeria’s High Rate Hinders Development

According to Dr. Osagie Ehanire, the Minister of Health, Nigeria’s increasing population is affecting the country’s social development with an adverse effect on the quality of life.

He mentioned this as he spoke in Abuja yesterday during the launch of the 2022 State of the World Population Report that is organised by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), with the theme ‘Seeing the Unseen: The Case for Action in the Crisis of Unintended Pregnancy.’

He stated that Nigeria’s current population, which is projected at approximately 214 million due to the high rate of the population growth which is at 3.2 percent as well as a high total fertility rate of 5.3 percent children per woman, was compounded by “unfavourable family planning.”

“Given the poor family planning indices, it is not surprising that the prevalence of unintended pregnancies is very high. According to the 2018 NDHS Report, 3 percent and 8 percent of pregnancies in Nigeria were unwanted and mistimed respectively this is attributable to non-use, inconsistent use, or incorrect use of effective family planning methods.”

Nasir Isa Kwarra, the Chairman of the National Population Commission, stated that 2.1 million of the pregnancies in Nigeria were unintended.

According to him, most women and girls can find themselves in situations that prevent them from exercising their fundamental rights as well as having the opportunities to take the appropriate decisions on issues that affect their reproductive lives.

“These inhibitions have consequences on their health, well-being, dreams, income/earnings, job security, aspirations, educational attainment/achievements, disposition and potentials in life.”