By Ayodele Oni
Legal luminary, Wole Olanipekun SAN, has observed that over bloated Nigeria’s population, is an albatross to its development economically and socially.
Delivering a Convocation Speech at Babcock University, Ilisha-Remo, Ogun State, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) posited that Nigeria’s increasing population is a time bomb that would explode at any time, even without anybody detonating it.
Olanipekun also used the occasion to admonished the Nigerian youths particularly, young graduates to shun the idea of mad rush to foreign lands in search of greener pastures.
“My plea still remains, that we have to salvage the dehydrating situation which drives our youths from their homestead”
He urged the graduates never to allow themselves to be overwhelmed by the flood of societal problems and pressure.
In his speech entitled “Go And Replenish The Earth :Man’s Misconception Of God’s Mandate, Olanipekun called for an effective management of the nation’s population growth with proper review of the population policies.
The former chairman, Body of Benchers said “for centuries, man has misconceived the biblical mandate charging him to ‘go and replenish the earth’ as a command to recklessly populate the earth, without caution.
“To live up to the true meaning and intent of this God’s given mandate, our focus must be on contributions to humanity, rather than uncontrolled population, which invariably chokes the available limited resources in diverse ways.
“My research has not yet assisted me to locate any particular man in the world whose success has been measured or determined by the plurality of the children he has flooded his immediate environment with, rather than the magnitude of his success and positive impacts on his environment.
“It is curious that Nigeria remains one of the very rare countries where the distribution of revenue from the Revenue Allocation Account is based, amongst others, on the principles of landmass, and population density.”
Olanipekun admonished the Nigeria to understudy China’s development model, particularly, how the People’s Republic was able to manage her population to compliment her economic and social development.
“China stands as a notable exception amongst countries of the world with high populations and abject poverty.
“While China is one of the most populous countries in the world, it has managed to lift millions out of the ruthless conundrum of poverty through sustained economic growth, industrialization, and effective governance.
“China is a success story today, and the secret of this narrative, I dare say, is not unconnected with the country’s periodic review of its population policies, starting with the One-Child Policy, which was implemented in 1979, restricting couples to having only one child.
“The Policy was designed to help control China’s population growth, which was skyrocketing at the time and seen as a threat to the country’s economic and social development.
“Nigeria, as of now, has an over-bloated population, that if not timeously checked and controlled would plunge the country into an unmitigated hysteria. Truth be told, our
Saying Nigeria is the 6th most populated country in the world, he added “Our present estimated population of 227Million, is not proximate to or aligned with our GDP of US$1,636 per capita; unemployment rate of 5%; inflation rate of 33.95%; while food insecurity/scarcity stares us stoically in the face. It is projected that Nigeria will hit a population of 400Million by 2050.
“It appears some Nigerian leaders, particularly, from the Northern part of Nigeria are now getting worried, and rightly in my view, about the uncontrolled population growth in the Northern part of Nigeria.
“No less a personality than former President Muhammadu Buhari was quoted as saying that he was worried by the ‘phenomenon’.
“Shortly before then, the Northern Governors, under the aegis of Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) in a communique issued after their last meeting in Kaduna, stated, amongst others, that “Climate Change, unsustainable agricultural practices and population growth posed significant challenges to the region’
“One would have been disturbed and disappointed if notable and respected Northern leaders were not conscious of the threat that uncontrolled population in the North poses to the region, for several reasons.
“Nigeria is mostly densely populated in the North-Western Region, and more than every other Region, the figurative albatross of poverty hovers over the Region.
“The Human Development Index illustrates that Northern Nigeria has the lowest literacy rates in the country.
“Limited access to quality education, especially for girls, perpetuates a cycle of poverty and limits economic opportunities, thus, life expectancy, education, and per capita income in northern Nigeria score poorly with significant portions of the population living below the poverty line.”
