Follow Us on Google
- Say 1m school drops in Nigeria are girls
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Nigerians have been urged by Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)/Transparenacy International in Nigeria (TI-Nigeria), to adopt the concept of a smaller family in order to prevent extreme poverty, youth unemployment, child mortality, and and other socioeconomic disruptions.
Executive Director of CISLAC and Head of TI-Nigeria, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani stated this at the Nigeria Population Conversation Seminar organised by CISLAC) and TI-Nigeria, held in Abuja.
Quoting data from UNICEF, Rafsanjani disclosed that over 50 percent of girls are not attending school at the basic education level, while 1,000,000 girls drop out between the first and last year of primary school.
He added that Nigeria accounts for 20 percent of all out-of-school children in sub-Saharan Africa, with close to 20 million out-of-school children.
He explained that the purpose of the seminar was to foster a people-oriented approach to participation and gather population perceptions in order to inform policy decisions and influence national planning strategies that will maximise the country’s demographic advantage for sustainable development.
Rafsanjani emphasised the significance of the noticeable disparity in population literacy among individuals, which presents further obstacles to demographic accountability for the primary participants in the Nigeria Population Conversation.
He went on to say that the fact that Nigerians from all six geopolitical zones actively participated in the Population Perception Survey report, which was being released in the country Tuesday, is evidence of the country’s readiness for a positive dialogue about population growth and how it affects both living standards and well-being.
“We cannot conceal the fact that with the current inadequate awareness on consequences of population at citizenry and policy levels as well as the unattended impact on national planning, Nigeria has not efficiently harnessed its population to achieve development goals.
“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. In addition to the general leading causes of under-five mortality, studies have highlighted the survival probabilities, the impact of socio-economic, demographic and environmental factors as major threats to the survival of under-five mortality in Nigeria.
“While a significant function of girl child education in Nigeria is to provide her with diverse basic knowledge, skills, and training which contribute to personal development and the overall national development, more than 50% of girls are not attending school at the basic education level, while 1 million girls drop out between the first and last year of primary school (UNICEF).
“In addition, Nigeria accounts for 20% of all out-of-school children in sub-Saharan Africa, with nearly 20 million out-of-school children (Malala Fund).
Likewise, in Nigeria, about 53.40% 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 can be largely attributed to the incidence of unemployment of youths,” he said.
Without a doubt, Rafsanjani said, this will be a starting point for future discussions about population at all levels in Nigeria and elsewhere.
He noted that the report’s factual findings will be used by pertinent state and non-state players to further the population debate and influence policy decisions that would lead to inclusive planning and development in Nigeria.
On the Human Population and the Environment Director NEXUS, Member of Advisory Board , Population Matters, Edu Effiom, said Population Action International agrees with Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) that Human population size, growth, density and migration are underlying causes of biodiversity loss.
She said underlying because these indices trigger the drivers of habitat (land, water bodies) degradation and ultimately loss.
She said according to Population Action International Global population is projected to grow to between 8 billion and 11 billion by the middle of the century, with much of the growth expected to take place in the humid tropics (one of the key reason being high fertility rate).
“Nigeria is the most populated in Africa with an annual population growth of 2.7%.
Should we be worried, yes, this has consequences on everything especially ecosystem, why?rapid population growth is in the humid tropics that har the planet’s richest forms of biodiversity.
“Increased demand for goods and se to meet the needs of a growing population will undoubtedly exert more pre on the components of environment- biodiversity, ecosystems, climate,’ she said.
Head of Campaigns and Communications at Population Matters, Alistair Currie, said the organisation is a UK-based charity with an international following, seeking to promote sustainable population and consumption worldwide in order to protect nature, improve lives and give all the children the opportunity for a better future.
“We know that that can only be achieved when people come together, like this, and bring their knowledge and skills to bear”, he said.
He added: “we promote positive, empowering solutions that allow people to make free and informed choices about the size of their families and take control of their lives. That means vital and positive action to empower women and girls; to ensure people everywhere receive a full education through secondary school (and beyond); to end poverty; to end child and maternal mortality; to ensure people are able and free to use modern, effective family planning; and to inform people about the benefits that choosing a smaller family can bring.
“Those rights, to education, to freedom from poverty, to gender equality, to education and more, are, of course, fundamental rights to which everyone is entitled, whether they make a difference to population or not. I, and all my colleagues, do what we do because we believe recognizing the impact of population can help to accelerate progress in achieving them. We know the SDGs are way off track, that so much more needs to be done, and that people are suffering as a result of the failure to take action.”
