Mr Auwal Rafsanjani, the Executive Director, CISLAC and Head, Transparency International szid this at the Nigerian Population Conversation Seminar organised by CISLAC in partnership with Population Matters.

“Discussion around population remains uncommon in Nigeria and this puts Nigeria’s population which is projected to reach 400 million by 2050, doubling the current estimate, at a demographic nightmare,” he said.

“This fact has been buttressed by multiplier effects of youth unemployment, insecurity, inaccessible healthcare services, food insecurity, education inequality and other challenges that undermine socio-economic development of Nigeria.

“Regrettably, Nigeria is among the top five countries in the world with the highest under-five mortality rates,” Rafsanjani said.

He said that  in addition to the general leading causes of under-five mortality, studies had highlighted the survival probabilities, the impact of socio-economic, demographic and environmental factors as major threats to the survival of under-five children in Nigeria.

He said that  while a significant function of girl child education in Nigeria was to provide her with diverse basic knowledge for personal development and the overall national development, more than 50 per cent of girls were not attending school.

He said Nigeria accounted for 20 per cent of all out-of-school children in sub-Saharan Africa, with nearly 20 million out-of-school children.

“Likewise, in Nigeria, about 53.40 per cent  of youths are unemployed according to youth unemployment rates released by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2022.

“This again exposes our country to most of the social crimes perpetuated by youths including the accelerated level of prostitution, armed robbery, rape and all facets of violence traceable to unemployment of youths.

“Given, this background, we cannot deny the fact that the time has come for Nigerians to begin to embrace the idea of smaller family to boycott ravaging poverty, youth unemployment, child mortality and other socio-economic upheavals,” he said.

Rafsanjani said that as a result the Nigeria Population Conversation project necessitated the need to engender people-oriented participation.

He said that a Population Perception Survey report carried by organisations with active participation by Nigerians across the six geo-political zones was a clear indication of citizens’ readiness for constructive conversation on population and its impacts on their well-being as well as living standards.

He said it was also aimed at harvesting perception on population to shape policy direction for well-informed national planning to achieve the overall demographic advantage for sustainable development.

He said that this without doubt would serve as a baseline for further conversation on population at all levels in Nigeria and beyond.

He expressed hope that the fact-findings from the report would be leveraged by relevant state and non-state actors in amplifying conversation on population, while shaping policy decision and direction towards inclusive planning and development in Nigeria.

Dr Edu Effiom, a member of the advisory board, population matters, said that almost half of the African continent was affected by land degradation.

Effiom said that unless concerted action was taken, land degradation would worsen in the face of population growth and unprecedented consumption..

She said there was need to address population growth to ease off pressure on the living environment and also empower women and their families.

“This is because women are the worst hit in situations like these, so we have to rethink girl child marriage and empower the girl child through good education.

“This will considerably check population growth with corresponding benefit of a better life for the girl child among others,” she said.