Family planning —Nigeria’s population highly dependent

Nigeria’s population pyramid shows a high dependency ratio of 80 per cent, indicating a surge of young persons dependent on only 20 per cent of the population for support.

This trend is an indicator of an impending demographic crisis, which can only be reversed if the Nigerian government prioritises systematic population control.

These are the summations of Dr Ejike Orji, chairman of the Management Committee, Association of the Advancement of Family Planning, at the 8th Nigeria Family Planning pre-conference media parley.

Orji warned that Nigeria needs to reverse the population bulge where 75 per cent of its citizens are under 35 years old while 45 per cent are under 15 years old, all mostly uneducated, unemployed, hungry and angry.

He noted that this alarming demographic trend has aggravated insecurity, increased immigration pressures and largely fuelled social unrest.”It’s not a doubt that Nigeria is in a demographic crisis; any country with a bulge of young, unplanned and unproductive persons is bound to face economic crises.

“This crisis demands immediate attention. The conversation around family planning is crucial and we need to support governments in doing the right thing.”“Population growth affects economic growth; that is why we are seeing the Japa syndrome in the country.

All our trained young doctors and ICT experts are leaving the country.”Neonatal mortality is another indicator of a population anomaly, an indicator of lack of adequate healthcare during childbirth,” he said.

Dr Orji noted that at the current fertility ratio of 4.8 per cent, Nigeria’s population is projected to hit 450 million people by 2050, warning that at such a rate Nigerians may begin to serve each other as food, given the economic situation currently.

He advised the government to work on reducing the fertility rate to 4 per cent to ensure a demographic transition and to begin planning for demographic dividends.

Orji said this is why the federal government must release the outstanding N2 billion allocated for family planning commodities in the 2024 budget.

“We are advocating for the remaining $2 billion to be released to the UNFPA this fiscal year. This funding is critical to addressing Nigeria’s growing population and its ripple effects on security, education, and health systems,” he stated.