What The Papers Say
A population policy please!
National Concord, Nigeria
IT IS probably an exaggeration to suggest, as Professor Victor Yoleye of the University of Ilorin is said to have done recently, that the permanent solution to Nigeria's food problem lies in population control. But exaggeration or not, it is a real existential possibility that if we do not start now to do something about population growth in the country, our present attempts at producing food may not lead anywhere.It is a matter for regret that nobody knows just how many Nigerians there are. But this inexcusable ignorance notwithstanding, the indications are that our population may soon grow beyond the limits that our resources can conveniently sustain.
By some estimates, there may be anything from 153 million to 173 million Nigerians by the year 2,000. At the present rate of population growth (estimated at 2.5 per cent per annum), food production ought to grow at about 3 per cent per annum between now and the year 2,000 if the food situation is not to become worse.
If our recent record is anything to go by, it is clear that our chances of achieving that rate of growth in food production are minimal, at best. The implications of the present trend in population growth for other aspects of life are equally grim. Current estimates suggest that if nothing is done, by the turn of the century, 33 percent of Nigerians as against the present 20 per cent, will be resident in urban areas. When consideration is given to the fact that the 20 percent of the population living in urban areas are living under intolerably poor conditions, with inadequate housing and other social infrastructure, it becomes clear that a sharp increase in the urban population will result in even more misery for townsfolk in Nigeria.
As for unemployment, if the present trend suggests anything at all, it is that the problem is bound to worsen substantially as more Nigerians enter the labour market. In general, it does not require a Thomas Malthus to realise that if the government fails to incorporate a workable population policy into its overall development programme, then certain disaster looms, no matter what it does to increase the stock of goods and services available to the nation.
The intention here is not to suggest that Nigeria repeat the mistakes of India by adopting a mechanical approach to the population question. What is required is a multi-dimensional approach that will take into active consideration the socio-economic and cultural variables that lie at the root of the problem. In the area of planned parenthood for instance, it is not to be recommended that an attempt be made to stampede the populace into suddenly becoming conscious of the benefits of contraception. Such an approach would succeed only in creating a market for the foreign drug companies that hawk contraceptive devices. It could even cause disaffection among the people.
Rather, a serious policy ought to proceed by first of all acknowledging that given the high illiteracy rate in the country, the physical conditions under which majority of the people live, and the socio-cultural attitudes of Nigerians, a planned parenthood programme cannot but be organically linked with the development effort as a whole. It makes no sense to exhort people to reduce the number of offsprings they breed, if in the country there is no support for their children. After all, infant mortality is still scandalously high, with 150 out of 1,000 children dying before their 5th birthday anniversary. People therefore tend to breed many as they can as a hedge not only against old age, also, against the uncertainty that their offsprings may survive into adulthood. Under the circumstance, impro healthcare delivery and social welfare schemes, literacy campaigns, must go side by side with the establishment of family planning centres if much headway is to be made with respect of population control.
Nigeria's battle against corruption faces criticism
The Royal Gazette, Bermuda
Nigeria is a country in which, far more than almost any other African state, the capitalist ethic has taken root. It is accepted that business is for profit, and the larger the better. Profits, it is also accepted, must be shared, and it does matter whether it is shared before it is obtained or afterwards.To most Nigerian businessmen, the adage that "cannot fish without using bait" is one to be scrupulously adhered to, if one is not to be smothered by the competition in the contracts jungle.
As far as the Nigerian populace is concerned, it is axiomatic that everyone in public service who has opportunity to obtain some "dash" for services rendered does so, be he a civilian politician in "agbada" robes, or soldier in uniform.
Since Nigeria became independent in 1960, soldiers have ruled for the single longest period - 1966 to 1979. And during that time, corruption did not vanish. In fact, stories told about soldiers in power who made money our Nigeria's oil boom are astounding. One is said to own shares worth $35 million in a major American aircraft manufacturing firm.
In such an atmosphere, a military regime that seeks to carry out a campaign against corruption, as General Muhammad Buhari's administration says it wants to do must anticipate that it stands in danger of foundering public cynicism. But far from taking precautions against public scepticism, the SMC seems hellbent on inviting it.
An elephantine diversion
The Guardian, Nigeria
THE NEWS that the Nigeria Airways has suspended 29 of its air hostesses for acquiring extra (unsightly?) layers of fat must be the only amusing development in a long time to come out of an airline which commuters have to put up, insufferably, with. So is the decision to have pregnancy testsIn the face of the perennial problems of the airline, incessant cancellations of scheduled flights, undue delays of flights; the difficulties of obtaining boarding passes from often unruly counter staff; the activities of touts; power black-outs at airports; and malfunctioning and non-functioning of navigation equipment, should fat stewardesses and pregnancy tests be the airline's priority? And shouldn't the myriad of women's societies also call the attention of the airline to overweight male staff?
The airline have to be more serious
