Population explosion in our part of the world may be linked to poverty and economic hopelessness, usually blameable on poor leadership.
In most of the European and Asian countries, Australia, among others, populations have been steadily decreasing, while economic growth is increasing, making planning for the next generations less challenging.
The problem of populations not being able to keep up with economic growth is the reason behind the prescription by the African Development Bank, the International Labour Organisation and other development partners for the formalisation of informal economies and job creation as key ingredients to growth, particularly among emerging West African economies.
Hope
We may agree that reforms in our educational sector are generating hope in which the teeming youth across the country are finding job opportunities. This is a complete departure from the era where many used to settle for the garbage that school dropouts get afflicted with. That pushed many of them into making babies out of desperation, resulting in a swelling of our national population and a diminishing of opportunities and resources.
Unlike previously, we are seeing teenage mothers go back to school to learn and move on, without allowing themselves to be treated to ‘swine menu’ like the biblical prodigal child.
Clearance for more jobs
In the last couple of months or so, the government has given clearance for recruitment of teachers and nurses as well as policemen and women, prison and immigration officers and civil servants.
That, together with ongoing opportunities at NABCO and those within the agricultural sector are adding up to give hope to our youth that with a minimum effort, life can be a bit tolerable, instead of gloomy.
And with the Free SHS programme swelling the classrooms with young teenagers, who otherwise would be out there in the streets messing up themselves, we can trust that baby-making and an undue swelling of our population may be delayed or controlled.
Healthy competition
Whatever the census has turned out, we are seeing, unlike previous periods, a healthy competition among our youth for access to education – both secondary and tertiary.
That also means we are breeding a more responsible and empowered human resource to support nation-building.
If we agree that effective nation-building results in improvement in lives and livelihoods, we may safely conclude that the current environment of hope has the potential of helping young people make responsible choices in life, including planning for their families in managing our population.
Population issues
Population issues are so topical that the UN has whole programmes to address them in vulnerable states, including our sub-region.
From family planning through adolescent reproductive health and primary health care, to early child education, agencies of the UN have missed no opportunity in ensuring that human beings everywhere, at every stage of their lives, get support to develop their capacities.
It is these programmes, effectively coordinated by the state, which ultimately enable resources to move in the right direction to support social initiatives in managing population growth for national benefit.
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