Don calls for appropriate policy to address high population rate

A university don at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Professor Ganiyat Adesina-Utman, has called on the Federal Government to design an appropriate population policy to address the high population rate in the country.

Adesina-Utman, a Professor of Economics, stated this at the 19th inaugural lecture of the university in Abuja with the topic: ‘What Has Finance Got To Do With It.’

According to her, no nation talks about economic planning for a sustainable development without the facts and figures of its population, which requires financing.

“The debate on population and economic development has always remained relevant in the scheme of things when it comes to national issues. When we evaluated the secondary data in order to examine Nigeria’s population policy in 2004, the study revealed that the target meant to reduce the population growth rate to 2 per cent or less in 2015 was unmet.

“A reduction in total fertility rate to at least 0.6 children every five years was achieved during two periods of 2008 and 2010.

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”On achieving a Universal Basic Education (UBE) plan, before 2015, Nigeria was unable to achieve a sustainable UBE prior to 2015.

”It was also unable to eliminate the gap between the boy and girl child enrolments into secondary schools, tertiary institutions and for vocational/technical education training.

”The study indicates that the gaps rather widened during the period,” she said.

The don therefore called for a policy that would ensure that a child’s spacing programme is implemented to address the high population growth rate as well as to reduce  the infant, child and maternal mortality.

She added that poverty alleviation, equality, financial inclusion, insurance and rural financing, among others could be better achieved through an alternative financing.

She then recommended an Islamic economic system instead of the capitalist economic system, saying “capitalism is not working; we have tried everything from process and income policies to several varieties of monetary targets and we have come to a sticky end.”

In his remarks, the vice chancellor of NOUN, Professor Olufemi Peters, said that the lecture was a custom in the institution, where an academic is called upon to give an account of their stewardship.