THE Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Health, Salma Ibrahim, has warned of dangers associated with Nigeria’s increasing population.
Ibrahim issued the warning on Friday, in Abuja at a symposium to commemorate the United Nations World Population Day.
The symposium which had reproductive and other health experts in attendance to brainstorm on the challenges associated with Nigeria’s reproductive health.
Convened by the development Research and Project Centre (dRPC), in collaboration with the Population Association of Nigeria, the event had the theme, “Embracing the Power of Inclusive Data Towards a Resilient and Equitable Future for All.”
Ibrahim said unchecked population was a source of worry for any government because it would affect the government’s ability to deliver quality health services.
She argued that the populations of advanced nations were decreasing but those of the developing countries were rising.
She explained that Nigeria’s population would surpass the US in 2050, which could further compound the nation’s socio-economic challenges, maternal health and other crises facing the nation.
Ibrahim said, “The country (Nigeria) has one of the highest populations in the world and is likely to surpass the US by 2050. As a country with high levels of poverty, this is a problem.”
Besides, she said a rapidly growing population would be a problem because many citizens could not feed themselves under the Tinubu government.
While urging states to support the federal government’s efforts to deliver quality and affordable care, Ibrahim said the federal government was firm in its decision to make family commodities available for all who needed them.
The ICIR reports that Nigeria currently ranks sixth globally among most populated nations, trailing India, China, the US, Indonesia and Pakistan.
According to Worldwometers, a data platform, Nigeria’s estimated population for July 2024 is 223.8 million.
Efforts by the Nigerian government to conduct a census in the past two years have failed. The last census by the country was done in 2006.
The United Nations recommends that every country conduct a census within ten years.
In her address, Ibrahim said, “There are several policies that are in place beyond the health sector and actually in the health sector. Of course, the health sector is a critical contributor to population management.
“In the area of reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health and family planning, there are several policy documents that we have in Nigeria, including policy with engagement with the private sector on how to improve access to family planning commodities. What is most important is family planning, we need to acknowledge, is a game changer.”
She submitted that family planning was a right issue, and Nigeria signed the declaration in 2012. Nigeria has been providing free family planning services with the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, she noted, promising that Tinubu’s administration remained committed to it, to the rights of women, improving the health of mothers and children, including improving access to reproductive health commodities.
Ibrahim said family planning was approved in the 2024 budget.
Urging the sub-national governments to support the federal government, she said, “This is just a catalytic support by the Federal Government. The Federal Government cannot do it alone. The responsibility lies with the sub-national government. Every state government has a dedicated budget that is dedicated to the improvement of the health of women and children. Today, Nigeria has one of the burdens of maternal deaths and also new-born deaths, if you look at the picture globally.
“So, federal and state governments must have a programme and dedicated account for reproductive health commodities in their state, as an integral part of their efforts towards improving the health of women. Family planning is part of it.”
In his remarks, the President of Gynaecology and Obstetrics Nigeria, Okechukwu Ikpeze, a professor, said family planning was imperative, given the high population and fertility in the country.
He said in the past, women gave birth believing that at least half of the children they had would survive because of high child mortality.
He argued that the nation had moved past that era and people should have the number of children they could raise to add value to society.
According to him, the nation’s economic situation has been worse than it used to be, as people find it difficult to feed and enjoy basic things they need. Consequently, couples should have the number of children they could train, he urged.
“There are some countries with limitations on the number of offspring allowed and they are doing better than us. But here, we think numerous children are an asset and we need to address this,” he stated.
President of the Nigerian Academy of Medicine (NAMed) Samuel Ohaegbulam, expressed delight with the symposium and hoped that the discussions at the event would be a game-changer for better reproductive health in the country.
In his remarks, the President of the Association of Reproductive Health (ARHF), Oladipo Ladipo, called for more public sensitisation on reproductive health and family planning in Nigeria.
While highlighting the gains of family planning for families, communities and nations, he urged that stakeholders “evangelise family planning. We must also talk about it in the church, in the mosque and use all modes of communication to promote family planning. If we fail to plan, nature will do it for us and nature will do it with planning and that is the phase we are going through now,” he stated.
He called for effective population management in the country, stressing that proper population data management would enhance development.
Similarly, the Project Director of the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health at the dRPC, Stanley Ukpai, said at the symposium that Nigeria needed good population data to plan for prosperity and development.
“Like every other civil society organisations, what we are doing is research; dRPC, being a research organisation. Our data are in alignment with the theme that is looking at Nigerians all over the world to embrace inclusive data. What we are doing is looking at the data that we currently have to inform the government that the population that we have, if left unchecked, might predispose us to more challenges, especially as our human capital development is not where it should be.
“From the analysis of the human capital development from last year, we haven’t done a census in the last 18 years, which is indicative of the policies that we’ve been churning out in that period is informed by current data to drive that process. Even when you look at issues around population dynamics, health, education, and even social investments, all of these rely on the use of data. We are calling on the government to invest in the census and invest in using data for the right policy-making and policy implementation,” Stanley noted.
The highlight of the event was the presentation of awards to journalists who were shortlisted for the PHC Media Challenge Award floated by dRPC and NAMED in 2023.
The ICIR’s News Editor, Marcus Fatunmole, won the award with a N1 million prize and a certificate.
He won the award with his investigative report supported by the International Budget Partnership under the SPARK project.
The report titled, “How inadequate manpower cripples primary healthcare in Nasarawa” exposed the challenges facing primary healthcare in Nasarawa State.
The state government employed 300 new health workers shortly after the report was published.
The first runner-up at the award was Lara Adejoro of the Punch Newspaper, while a former PREMIUM TIMES reporter, Nike Adebowale, won the second runner-up award.
Adejoro got N500,000, while Adebowale won N300,000. Both reporters were also awarded certificates.
Meanwhile, 10 other journalists shortlisted for the award won N50,000 each.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org