Is the government currently doing anything to actively slow down the ridiculously high population growth in nigeria??

Are people being encouraged to plan how many children they can have based on their means and the needs of the greater community

I believe that China has a law instated similarly to the one you mentioned here.  Due to the ever growing population in China the government has mandated that a couple is only able to have one child (economically stable or not).

Do to the fact that women leave the home and stay with the husband, the people of China are more determined to have boys.  It is under this law that the parents fail to report a child that has been born (if it is a girl), give the child up for adoption (more along the lines of abandonment), or kill the child if it is a girl.

This has been a cause of distress to many seeing as though the number of boys are growing faster than the number of girls.  Unsuccessful men may end up alone for all their lives seeing as though the woman have an abundance to choose from.

Do you think that what has happened to China will happen to Nigeria if such a law (restriction/moderation) is imposed upon its people?

Such law will never and can never work in Nigeria.
I even trust our leaders no government in power will enforce such law.
I trust the Muslims in Nigeria, sxpecially in the North.
They will never kiss the dust for such law and the government that have passed such law.

In a nation that the govt. is not concerned about the welfare of the citizenry can not come out with such law.
No one can restrain my family size provided he doesn't feed me.
And better still, I must see that the people who enacted such law have a child each before I can comply.

No one can claim to love my family than me.
And such person can't control my family or dictate to me how I should run my family.
I personally will not agree.

I can have as many children as my wife and I agree upon, provided I have the means of taking care of them to a greater heights where they constitute a nuisance to the family,community or nation.

I am having good four children if my would be wife complies (a daughter and three sons) .

you guys seem to have misintepreted my use of the phrase 'family planning'; what this means is when people (couples) sit down and discuss how many children they plan to have, so as to avoid hardship and chaos...

china, is not what i had in mind when i mentioned 'family planning'; a term that usually implies that the 'family' involved plans (as peter did mention) how many children they should rear, and not the government...

peter, you said that nobody could love your family like you but there are a great number of people who are in effect living beyond their means by having more children than they can afford to look after, which leads to suffering and difficulties for all involved...if a father cannot afford to send all his children to school is that 'love'

Exu if you read my post very well I made mention of i"f I have the means to take care of them to a greater heights where they will not constute nuisance to the family, community and the nation".
pls get me right.

I don't know anything about the Government or the sate of the people in Nigeria so forgive my next comment but:

Here in the US there are programs made readily available to assist those families who have found them selves in distress and unable to take care of the children they have (even if at one point all was well). Anything can happen at any given moment which means even careful planning may fall short of what you might face in the future.

There is free education up until university level, there is a welfare program in which the government offers financial assistance to families in need for a certain amount of years or until that family is fiscally stable. There are affordable housing units for bigger families where the rent is subsidized. Also, there are student loans you may receive from the government (or private financial institutions) that are granted to students. These loans are deferred until well after 6 months post graduation.

Are any of these things available in Nigeria and if not, would there be a way that they may be?

But I do agree that the couple should sit down and plan out what is within their means.

Also, would those who are able to afford to have plenty of children and decide to do so still be contributing to the rapidly increasing population?

@exu i don't understand what you mean by ridiculously high population. China is many times larger both in land mass and population. Japan is even smaller than nigeria (many times smaller) and more or less has the same population size yet they have a higher per capita gdp and lower crime rate. Overpopulation is merely a term in economics and relates to management of resources and not actual size. What we need is effective management and people oriented policies.

vexxy:

Also, would those who are able to afford to have plenty of children and decide to do so still be contributing to the rapidly increasing population?

those who are able to afford plenty children in Nigeria are very very very very few because most of the population is in poverty so even if they give birth to 100 children per family (which they sometimes do), it wouldn't affect the population anyhow.


these super wealthy ones are probably the ones taking all the mass' money through corrupt activities and what not.

@Wesley, I think you underestimate the amount of money in Nigeria...Yes there is widespread poverty but there are probably more people than you think who are financially ok...

@kode, I was talking about population growth...You can't honestly believe that the current rate of growth is conducive to a healthy economy in future

WE NEED A BIGGER POPULATION!!! ISRAEL AND SEVERAL OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES WISH THEY HAD A BIG POPULATION LIKE OURS, YET WE WANT TO REDUCE OUR OWN POPULATION.

A huge developed population is a blessing because the potential, if properly harnessed would be amazing.
Look at China, a nation of 1.5 billion people, why do you think a lot of businesses want to move to china? Its because of there population, you are potentially talking about a huuuuuuuuge customer base. China's economy is set to overtake the US in decades from now because of there population.

Size in population is the reason why other developed countries like Canada are encouraging immigration. It is the same reason why the Japanese, German and other economies in Western Europe can't compete with that of America's, partly because they've refused to stop having babies .

WARNING: Population is a blessing when it is an educated and sophisticated one. If its not, na wahala o so that have babies if you cannot afford to give them a world class education because i don't want them to come and rob me in my house or kidnap my children 30 years from now.

davidif raises some very good points and I agree with every one of them.

[size=25pt]Our greatest natural resource is our children![/size]

blackspade, thank you o jare.

Do you think that what has happened to China will happen to Nigeria if such a law (restriction/moderation) is imposed upon its people?

For where, naija people too dey like born (its a very good thing).

Nice Trend and Topic too.

Abjectly poor people like we have in millions in nigeria should not have children at all,having children in that situation is selfish and stupid,just like the pictures of road side nigerian beggars with children,it is heart breaking.

Abjectly poor people like we have in millions in nigeria should not have children at all,having children in that situation is selfish and stupid,just like the pictures of road side nigerian beggars with children,it is heart breaking.

Yep, you are right but who are we to play God, afterall its there choice. I believe that if you can't take care of yourself why bring a baby into this world to suffer that misery.

@Poster, since I was a toddler, that country has been singing Family Planning and preaching the doctrine of less children through orgs like Unicef etc. So yes, we do have Family planning programs but at the end of the day, individuals make the decision they want.

really needed