Population growth and sociopolitical crises in Nigeria. By Lesley Chimezie

Ask the average Nigerian what they think the country's biggest problems are, and you would hear things like corruption, poverty, unemployment, e.t.c. 

All these, indeed, are major challenges facing the country. But they are not they real problem. They infact are only symptoms of the actual problem.
Yes, corruption is endemic, majority of populace live below the poverty line, Unemployment rate Keeps rising. Yes, efforts are being made to tackle these challenges. But no meaningful success can be achieved until the root problem is dealt with. Fast. 


Statistics show that an average of 19,000 children are born Is Nigeria everyday. [ie about 850 births per hour ]. Also, it is projected that the nation's population could hit 190 million by the end Of 2016. Despite the fact that emigration would exceed immigration.

What this means is that there are 19,000 more mouths to be fed, 19,000 more individuals to share in the already depleted resources. Now this is the real problem. Until the issue of population is tackled seriously, no matter how many corrupt leaders are jailed, robbers are executed or jobs are created, these problems will continue to multiply.

CONSEQUENCES OF OVERPOPULATION

◆ LESS FREEDOM, MORE RESTRICTION
Aldous Huxley in 1958 predicted that democracy is threatened by overpopulation and could give rise to totalitarian government. How close was he to the truth ?
Laws are made to serve as a social mediator of relationships between humans. As population continues to increase, there will be need for more rules and restrictions to be made to regulate human interactions because those restrictions will be needed to maintain order. Examples of such restrictions would be putting limits on water consumption, on driving and on what people can do on their land.

◆ SPECIE EXTINCTION
Humans have been the most dominant specie on the planet. And with an ever- increasing population and the attendant need for basic amenities, scientists have warned that in a few decades, at least half of the planet's plant and animal species wild be extinct. The International Union for Conservation of Nature in its 2012 report titled "The IUCN Red List Of Threatened Species" Show that 19,817 out of 63,837 species examined are under threat of extinction . As Population continues to grow, there will be an increase in activities such as fishing, poaching and and hunting which would further Put stress on the already endangered animal species.

◆ DEPLETION OF NATURAL RESOURCES

 As if these are not disturbing enough, a study by UNEP Global Environment Outlook reveals that "Human Consumption has far outstripped available resources" . The report went ahead to explain that each person or earth needs one-third more land to provide his / her needs than the earth on supply. This of course is a direct consequence of increasing population which puts immense pressure and stress On the finite basic life sustaining resources such as freshwater, arable land, forest and fossil fuel.

 
◆ INCREASED CRIME RATE
"It has been observed that the countries which have balanced population, crime rate is very low in such regions. When people are not provided with basic necessities, it elevates crime". - Aisha Tariq , Pakistan Times .

Crime rates will continue to soar as human population increases, because basic necessities and resources decrease and become scarcer. This increases competiveness for these resource. So those without the financial wherewithal would resort to criminality and use violent force to survive, while the few fortunate ones would do anything and everything to protect what they have while trying to get more to save for generations unborn.

BACK HOME
These are just some of the disadvantages of over population. It is something every discerning person can easily relate to. 
Now let us bring it back home to Nigeria. Nigeria, the most populous black nation in the world, occupies a land mass of about 923,768 sqKm. This land mass has remained constant, (if anything we have lost part of it to desertification), when a changing factor like population which is ever increasing is considered, you would realize that it is only a matter of time before we run out of habitable space. In fact it had started already. In major cities and urban centers it is almost impossible to find land that is unoccupied. People now sand-fill water bodies and 'reclaim' swaps and mangroves to build residential houses and factories. This trend leaves very little land for agriculture and food production.

The traditional and religious institutions are doing nothing to help, infact they are major contributors to the problem. 
The African tradition permits for and encourages polygamy. At a time a man's strength and wealth was measured by how many wives and children he had. Another practise that he encouraged over population is the preference of the male child over the female. You find a couple with up to three children looking to have more because they are searching for a male child or they want to have more male children. 

Islam as a religion encourages polygamy and large families. Christianity on the other hand does not encourage polygamy, but it discourages modern scientific birth control methods. Some Christians would even argue that children are God's gifts,why would they try to refuse it? Some would say they were created to increase and multiply. They forget that God Himself had only one Begotten Son. Why then must increase and multiplication only be in procreation? 

With the prevalent hardship and poverty level in the country, it is very common to see children involved in child labour, some as young as 10 years old. These kids do menial jobs of all sort to earn a living for themselves and sometimes even support their families. These children get exposed to all forms of social vices so very early in live. It takes miracle for them to leave such lifestyles and become responsible members of society when they grow. 

Therefore; until conscientious efforts are made by everyone concerned, (which is everybody), to check this cancerous growth now, we will keep running in circles in our bid to rid society of vices. In fact vices will continue to grow exponentially until it consumes us all. Population problem in Nigeria is volcano waiting to erupt and spew it magma on everyone of us. 

Nigeria as a nation must as a matter of urgency borrow a cue from nations like Russia, China, Estonia and Hungary with negative population growth rate. And people must stop procreating just because they can. In fact laws should be made to this effect. 
If this is not done quickly I believe we might just begin to witness outbreaks of epidemics and plagues in the nearest future. Nature might just decide to purge itself off excessive load to balance the scales again.