Effects and Causes of Overpopulation in Nigeria
Chapter One
Objective of the study
The objectives of the study are;
- To examine the causes of overpopulation.
- To know whether these continuous increase in population has any effects on the Nigeria economy.
- To suggest some of the ways of resolving the problems associated with overpopulation.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Causes of Population Explosion in Nigeria
The causes of population explosion in Nigeria are numerous. This paper will try as much as possible to highlight and discuss the various causes of population explosion in our dear country. Below are the various causes of rapid growth of population in Nigeria
Lack of birth control law put in place by the Governments: Federal, State and Local Governments have failed in this regard as highlighted above. Nigeria is a country where married and unmarried couples gave birth to children the ways they want. Nigeria is a nation with high number of orphanage homes. Normally, orphanage home is a home for children whose parents are dead (Hornby, 2010). But in Nigeria, there are orphanage homes where children whose parents are alive. This is a sign of population explosion. According to Campbell (2018) quoted the former Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Eze Duruiheoma and said that Nigerians knew that they were by far the most populous country in Africa, and they were proud of it. According to the author, by the year 2050, the author predicted that Nigeria’s population will displace the population of the United States as the third most populated country in the world after China and India. The former Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC) as revealed by Campbell (2018) also noted that Nigeria has no population policy that would limit births, and the people of Nigeria have traditionally valued large families. However, because of the lack of birth control law put in place by the Federal, State and Local Governments, the population of human beings has outgrowth available resources in Nigeria. It is a very serious challenge to the country’s development.
Lack of family planning: Since the Federal,State and Local Governments failed in their responsibilities to regulate the number of children per couple, each couple on his part equally failed in his responsibility to adopt appropriate family planning. According to Umana (2019), most couples failed to use contraceptives in the control of birth. Umana (2019) further added that inability to use contraceptive is a common practice among couples in the Northern part of Nigeria.
Early marriages: Couples married at the early ages had a very serious implication on the population growth.Such couples are not matured enough to control the number of children both of them will give birth to. A man and a woman coming together and married is a very serious issue that it should not be taking for granted. In Nigeria, we had cases of couples who got married, few years later, they are not together again, leaving the children to take care of themselves. We equally had cases where new born babies were dumped by couples in the nearby refuge or abandoned houses.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to effects and causes of overpopulation in Nigeria
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information on effects and causes of overpopulation in Nigeria. 200 staff of national population commission, Akwa Ibom state was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was the effect and causes of overpopulation in Nigeria. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of effect and causes of overpopulation in Nigeria
Summary
This study was on effect and causes of overpopulation in Nigeria. Three objectives were raised which included: To examine the causes of overpopulation, to know whether these continuous increase in population has any effects on the Nigeria economy and to suggest some of the ways of resolving the problems associated with overpopulation. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staffs of national population commission, Edo State. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made directors, administrators, senior staffs and junior staffs were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
Since the Federal and State Governments are desirous to eliminate poverty, hunger, illiteracy, disease and to provide food, healthcare and education to our future generations (Faryal, n.d), then, the governments should take drastic steps to implement the proposed measures to control future population explosion in Nigeria. Federal Government through the National Population Commission (NPC) does not even know the exact figures of population of Nigerians and non Nigerians. For instance, if the various telecommunication companies (Mtn, Glo, etc) and commercial banks know the exact figures of their customers on a daily basis, then, the Federal Government on the issue of exact population figures of Nigerians and non Nigerians should not be left out. We all know that economic and social reforms cannot be undertaken without knowing the exact statistics of population of the people .In my candid opinion, the Federal Government should overhaul the excessive population growth in Nigeria. Furthermore, the cultures and traditions of the people should not be allowed to control Federal Government, instead, the Federal Government should control the cultures and traditions of the people.In so doing, the cultures and traditions of the people will be placed in proper perspective to suit the current situation of the economy of Nigeria. The era where some Nigerians do certain things based on their cultures and traditions that were not in line with the current reality of the economy is over. Federal, State and Local Governments, and all Nigerians should wake up and structure their minds toward positive thinking to check further population growth in Nigeria
Recommendation
- Savings rate of Nigerians should increase as this will be used to invest in more research and new techniques. Each of these techniques being a less than perfect substitute requiring more labour or resource of a different, more labour intensive type and therefore added more value added services to the production. This continues to add to the total output at a higher rate than population growth, rising per capital out as a result.
- Government should make concerted effort to check population growth rate. Any population growth that occurs too fast will have diminishing returns or create a circumstance where economic growth is stagnating.
References
- Alyssa, T. K. (2018). Population growth in schools. Retrieved on 22nd June, 2020 from https://ihstimes.com>uncategorized.
- Campbell, J. (2018). Nigeria faces a crippling population boom. Retrieved on 17th June, 2020 from https://www.cfr.org>blogs>nigeria.
- Fan, F. A. &Besong, B. J. (2010).Implications of population growth for Nigeria’s development sophid.An African Journal of Philosophy, 13(1).
- Faryal, H. G. (n.d). Population explosion: how to control it. The Nation.Retrieved on 22nd June, 2020 from https://nation.com.pk/>population.
- Hornby, A. S. (2010). Oxford advanced learner’s dictronary of current English 8 ed. Oxford University press.
- Mfono, Z. N. (2008). Education and population awareness in developing countries, Development Southern Africa, 10(3), 383-391.
- Nnadi, I. (2013). Son preference a violation of women’s human rights. A case study of Igbo custom in Nigeria. Journal of polities and law, 6(1), 134-141.
- Ochonogor, E. C. &Umudhe, S. E. (2007). Towards improving senior secondary students’ achievement in the basic science subjects in Nigeria. Delsu Journal of Educational Research and Development, 6(1), 121-136.