I have read the thread as much as I could. I am no sociologist, and therefore, my suggestions are not magic bullets. Come to think of it, this discourse is mainly fixated on the Northern population, without thoroughly considering the Southern population. I'll tell you guys something. Just recently, while doing my NYSC somewhere in Enugu, I meet lots of women in the villages who had more than 7 kids. There was a woman who even had 10 kids and was just over 35 yrs! The truth is that if a true population exercise was conducted in Nigeria today, there is a possibility that the North's population might be demystified.
While I don't suggest the break-up of Nigeria as suggested by PhysicsQED, I believe that restructuring our country into manageable regional blocs is our best bet. We can easily manage our population based on our ethnicity/nationalities. As it is now, Nigeria is in a state of flux with every region deliberately increasing their population to share oil wealth. Again, no matter what, the federal government will not make a breakthrough in reducing our population. For example, why would a Northern muslim man obey the words of a secular government on not marrying more one wife? Only a regional government can successfully convince him of the dangers in building such a 'football' family. Nobody believes the FG's policy, but I think a regional government in place can solve this population problem within a short time. This is my opinion.

Tony Spike:
While I don't suggest the break-up of Nigeria as suggested by PhysicsQED, I believe that restructuring our country into manageable regional blocs is our best bet. We can easily manage our population based on our ethnicity/nationalities. As it is now, Nigeria is in a state of flux with every region deliberately increasing their population to share oil wealth. Again, no matter what, the federal government will not make a breakthrough in reducing our population. For example, why would a Northern muslim man obey the words of a secular government on not marrying more one wife? Only a regional government can successfully convince him of the dangers in building such a 'football' family. Nobody believes the FG's policy, but I think a regional government in place can solve this population problem within a short time. This is my opinion.

I don't believe the average Nigerian out there thinks of Oil money when deciding whether or not to add another found to the feeding trough. As is, over 80% of the Nation(people) do not directly benefit from the Oil wealth, and the vast majority of the people with well over 3 kids are poor individuals who have little or no hope of ever getting their hands on more than a couple of hundred naira of that oil money, either through election bribery or awoof-come-to-town of some kind.

On restructuring our country into manageable regional blocs, where you have units managing their population based on ethnicity/nationality . . . that is never going to happen. If Nigeria is divided today into mini-countries, are you suggesting that all Ibos, will move back to Ibo country, Yorubas to Yoruba country, and Hausas to Hausa country? I say we wake up from that dream . . that will never happen because we no longer live in an age where people are shackled to ethnicity and 'fatherland'. Dividing the country will most likely change nothing of the migration patterns we see today, and I see no way that will change anything of this.

As for regional governments being able to convince people of doing the right thing, what stops the state and local goverments we have today from doing exactly that? For instance, in the North, many of those in government are northerners. So what stops them from trying to convince their own people that having less is a better idea? Same goes for the South, and all other mini-regions out there.

^^^
Migration patterns are dictated by prosperity and opportunities. A prosperous region can attract more migrants based on its prosperity, no doubt. Although, we aren't in the 50's and 60's Nigeria, I reckon that free education policy in Western Nigeria (and Eastern Nigeria) worked pretty well. This could be linked to regional belief in the government at that time. Today, Nigeria is almost a rudderless nation where nobody believes the federal government. So, how do we get the FG to control population? I think one of such ways is to allow regional autonomy. Each region will be able to manage its resources based on their population. Again, regions without adequate resources will be forced to control their population. As it is now in Nigeria, nobody cares. However, like you said, a lot needs to be done on educating Nigerians about population control. My NYSC experience really shocked me, and I must say, that ethnicity will play a huge future role in educating illiterate Nigerians about the coming danger.

Dividing Nigeria is the only solution to the ever-growing population. However, at this stage, this really isn't a problem because Nigeria isn't as congested as the article makes it seem. The guy just visited Lagos and therefore assumed that the entire country was as congested as Lagos.

If we had three countries of 50 million people, we wouln't be debating this now. The crux of the matter is that there is plenty of bread (oil money) to go around so people are just multiplying all over the place. If Nigeria divides and that "bread" leaves, then there won't be anything to support the rapid population growth and birth rates would decline. It's pretty simple the way I see it!

Now, if Nigeria adopts a social welfare program like the Unuted States, then expect to see many more people. However no matter what happens, Nigeria will not be as crowded as the journalist is making it seem anytime now or in the forseable future.

Nigerian men should keep it in their pants abeg
People wey never chop beleful, humping like gorillas

lol

DaLover: @Kobojunkie and ekt_bear,
Y are you both insisting on stuff that is not practicable or enforcable?
I.E family planing in a poor under developed country?

Don't get me wrong, I am for family planning but it cannot work in an under developed country like Nigeria....or any other underdeveloped country (except china...and we all know y).

History and common knowledge has shown that countries that experience economic growth also experience a natural reduction in population growth....weather from USA to Asia to Brazil to Europe... its the same story......while poor countries have high growth rates and the reason is in the original post in case you did not see it..

To poor people having many children is like a lottery, one might make it and rescue the lot, preaching family planing to these set of people will have limited impact...ever wonder why rich or middle class people have fewer children than poor people?

Well, DaLover, regarding the bolded part of your statement, you are absolutely wrong. Many underdeveloped countries are improving access and use of contraceptives for their people. Ethiopia increased its Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR - the proportion of married women of reproductive age using a modern contraceptive method) from 8% in 2000 to 15% in 2005 and 29% in 2011, yet they are a very poor country. While Nigeria has a CPR of 10%, Ghana has 19%, India 49% and Iran 77%. In Brazil, average number of children per woman is 2.5 while Nigerians have an average of 5.7. All these countries are developing countries but you can see that those that prioritize the issue of how to address population explosion are all making progress.
It is like the egg and chicken. Do you wait for development before checking unrestrained population growth? Or you tackle the challenge of population explosion in your quest to achieve development?

@Kobojunkie: Thumbs up for your ability to see the big picture!

AjanleKoko: Nigerian men should keep it in their pants abeg
People wey never chop beleful, humping like gorillas

LOL Word!

Our crazy population.

Kabikala:

Well, DaLover, regarding the bolded part of your statement, you are absolutely wrong. Many underdeveloped countries are improving access and use of contraceptives for their people. Ethiopia increased its Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR - the proportion of married women of reproductive age using a modern contraceptive method) from 8% in 2000 to 15% in 2005 and 29% in 2011, yet they are a very poor country. While Nigeria has a CPR of 10%, Ghana has 19%, India 49% and Iran 77%. In Brazil, average number of children per woman is 2.5 while Nigerians have an average of 5.7. All these countries are developing countries but you can see that those that prioritize the issue of how to address population explosion are all making progress.
It is like the egg and chicken. Do you wait for development before checking unrestrained population growth? Or you tackle the challenge of population explosion in your quest to achieve development?

@Kobojunkie: Thumbs up for your ability to see the big picture!

I just don't understand why people will keep insisting on implementing policies that have either failed or are failing...to me this amounts to hitting ur head against a brick wall hoping that it would move.....in this country nigeria we have tried several enlightenment campaigns with remarkable failure....and it doesnt occur to yoj guys that what is at play here is a cultural attitude, and one of the greatest changers of such cultural attitudes is social economical directions......

Look at this simple example, in nigeria now, middle class people working in banks, oil companies, telecoms sector, insurance etc are having 3 or 4 children at most....there was no enlightenment campaigns, no punitive taxes, no free condoms campaigns......how and why are these middle class nigerians deciding to have smaller managable families.....

As long as poor people feel that one of the many spawn children is a possible ticket to a good life, he will keep trying his luck.....tdying to point out the negatives to him and he will say na blessings from God...

Saying that we cant wait to be developed before population reduces means u r getting it wrong because it shows that you are like kobojunkie in your subconscious believe that nigerian can never develop.....now if you have choosen to express this believe indirectly, why should the country remain one then?

.

.

DaLover:

I just don't understand why people will keep insisting on implementing policies that have either failed or are failing...to me this amounts to hitting ur head against a brick wall hoping that it would move.....in this country nigeria we have tried several enlightenment campaigns with remarkable failure....and it doesnt occur to yoj guys that what is at play here is a cultural attitude, and one of the greatest changers of such cultural attitudes is social economical directions......

Look at this simple example, in nigeria now, middle class people working in banks, oil companies, telecoms sector, insurance etc are having 3 or 4 children at most....there was no enlightenment campaigns, no punitive taxes, no free condoms campaigns......how and why are these middle class nigerians deciding to have smaller managable families.....

Correction -- The report that middle class Nigerians have 3-4 children works only if you focus on a subset because the average number of children per female in the same Nigeria has GONE UP . . . notice, it has not come down but has gone up. The birth rate in the country has gone up even as the claims that middle class Nigerians now only have 3-4 children keeps making rounds. How do you explain that one?

DaLover:
Saying that we cant wait to be developed before population reduces means u r getting it wrong because it shows that you are like kobojunkie in your subconscious believe that nigerian can never develop.....now if you have choosen to express this believe indirectly, why should the country remain one then?

Now, please don't confuse my person with you. I don't think as you do and so please do not confuse the way my mind works with the way yours does.

Nigeria CAN be developed. However Nigeria has to WANT to be developed and STRIVE for development. It is not automagic -- it requires hard work and perseverance, two things majority of Nigerian leaders lack.

What the other @poster is suggesting is, rather than saying we DO NOTHING, we should do better at what we know to do now.

Your argument that current solutions have failed, or are failing can be compared to the argument offered back during election period by some of our in-house rimrods, claiming that the reason Education in Nigeria has failed, or is failing is we practice a 6-3-3-4 system. These argued that the reason why our teachers are mostly illiterate, wait for it, is because we have a 6-3-3-4 system, and that not until we switched to a 9-3-4 system, we would continue to see Education plummet. Yes, this brain fart was offered on here.lol

You can compare what you have said so far claims made by some that increasing availability of condoms does not help reduce AIDS.
Condoms do reduce transmission of HIV, however, if you pass them out without better informing people on what they are used for, or the advantages of using them, you might as well be passing out balloons.
In both cases, there is a requirement on those who want change and whose responsibility it is to get those changes.

The plans as explained by the previous poster has produced good results in some places. So your continued claim that it has failed, or that it is failing, is baseless at best.
In poor countries like india, there has been some success recorded in parts. In one area, women are being encouraged to get their tubes ted, and some are offered prices or rewards, lol. You do not say,"OH, these people are poor, so they do not need to be told the truth of what the damage they are doing". That is not how to live a life, have a family or grow a nation.

Nigeria lacks credible statistical measures to calculate the number of its population. The government of Nigeria is a wimp!

Muriana Taiwo, 45, explained that it was “God’s will” for him to have 12 children by his three wives, calling each child a “blessing” because so many of his own siblings had died.

The cloth market in Lagos, Nigeria, where the area’s population has by some estimates nearly doubled over 15 years to 21 million, and living standards for many are falling.

Children at a primary school in Ketu, Nigeria. In a quarter century, at the rate Nigeria is growing, 300 million people — a population about as big as that of the present-day United States — will live in a country the size of Arizona and New Mexico.

ndu_chucks: Muriana Taiwo, 45, explained that it was “God’s will” for him to have 12 children by his three wives, calling each child a “blessing” because so many of his own siblings had died.

I do not want to rant about religion, but people who use religion to support their lifestyle are highly deluded. They should use Reason and that would dictate that he is being selfish when he has 12 children and 3 wives.

What is wrong with having 2 or 3 children and cherishing them? Ignorance is definitely a disease.

.

Nnenna1: If the population is such a big deal, then focus should be made on educating women and encouraging them to join the work force. The more career focused women are, the less inclined towards home/family they become and this tends to rub off on men as well. Overall children become less of a priority as opposed to self-enhancement over time.

To be honest more Nigerians than we think are cognizant of birth control and the benefits of family planning. The problem these people have is the need to ensure the "social security" of adults by the promise of having children (thus future adults to take care of old parents) given high poverty and high infant mortality rates.

As I said, a subtle and more effective way of curbing this is 1) focusing on poverty alleviation, social security and (more importantly) 2) enabling women to take more initiative in their lives via education and career focus.

On another note, population growth rates stats are below:

Rank Country Growth Rate (2011 per CIA Fact Book)

1 Zimbabwe 4.31
2 Niger 3.64
3 Uganda 3.58
4 Turks and Caicos Islands 3.49
5 Burundi 3.46
6 United Arab Emirates 3.28
7 Gaza Strip 3.20
8 Ethiopia 3.19
9 Western Sahara 3.10
10 Burkina Faso 3.09
11 Zambia 3.06
12 Madagascar 2.97
13 Benin 2.91
14 Congo, Republic of the 2.84
15 Bahrain 2.81
16 Rwanda 2.79
17 Malawi 2.76
18 Togo 2.76
19 Comoros 2.70
20 Liberia 2.66
21 Yemen 2.65
22 Guinea 2.65
23 Equatorial Guinea 2.64
24 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 2.61
25 Mali 2.61
26 Senegal 2.56
27 Sudan 2.48
28 Eritrea 2.47
29 Kenya 2.46
30 Mozambique 2.44
31 Iraq 2.40
32 Gambia, The 2.40
33 Afghanistan 2.38
34 Mauritania 2.35
35 Cayman Islands 2.29
36 Sierra Leone 2.25
37 Djibouti 2.24
38 Solomon Islands 2.22
39 Anguilla 2.17
40 Central African Republic 2.15
41 Cameroon 2.12
42 West Bank 2.10
43 Cote d'Ivoire 2.08
44 Libya 2.06
45 Belize 2.06
46 Sao Tome and Principe 2.05
47 Angola 2.03
48 Oman 2.02
49 Chad 2.01
50 Tanzania 2.00
51 Gabon 2.00
52 Guinea-Bissau 1.99
53 Guatemala 1.99
54 Kuwait 1.99
55 Papua New Guinea 1.99
56 Timor-Leste 1.98
57 Egypt 1.96
58 Marshall Islands 1.95
59 Nigeria 1.94
60 Philippines 1.90
61 Honduras 1.89
62 Tajikistan 1.85
63 Ghana 1.82
64 British Virgin Islands 1.74
65 Brunei 1.71
66 Cambodia 1.70
67 Bolivia 1.69
68 Laos 1.68
69 Botswana 1.66
70 Cyprus 1.62
71 Somalia 1.60
72 Nepal 1.60
73 Israel 1.58
74 Malaysia 1.58
75 Pakistan 1.57
76 Bangladesh 1.57
77 Saudi Arabia 1.54
78 New Caledonia 1.52
79 Venezuela 1.49
80 Mongolia 1.49
81 Cape Verde 1.45
82 Ecuador 1.44
83 Aruba 1.44
84 Panama 1.44
85 Kyrgyzstan 1.43
86 India 1.34
87 Vanuatu 1.34
88 Dominican Republic 1.33
89 French Polynesia 1.33
90 Costa Rica 1.31
91 Antigua and Barbuda 1.29
92 Paraguay 1.28
93 Kiribati 1.25
94 Iran 1.25
95 Turkey 1.24
96 American Samoa 1.21
97 Swaziland 1.20
98 Bhutan 1.20
99 Algeria 1.17
100 Colombia 1.16
101 Australia 1.15
102 Luxembourg 1.15
103 Turkmenistan 1.14
104 Brazil 1.13
105 Mexico 1.10
106 Nicaragua 1.09
107 Suriname 1.09
108 Burma 1.08
109 Vietnam 1.08
110 Indonesia 1.07
111 Morocco 1.07
112 Ireland 1.06
113 San Marino 1.04
114 Peru 1.03
115 Argentina 1.02
116 Jordan 0.98
117 Tunisia 0.98
118 United States 0.96
119 Seychelles 0.95
120 Uzbekistan 0.94
121 Sri Lanka 0.93
122 Bahamas, The 0.92
123 Isle of Man 0.92
124 Syria 0.91
125 New Zealand 0.88
126 Macau 0.88
127 Namibia 0.87
128 Azerbaijan 0.85
129 Jersey 0.84
130 Chile 0.84
131 Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.82
132 Singapore 0.82
133 Qatar 0.81
134 Fiji 0.80
135 Canada 0.79
136 Haiti 0.79
137 Jamaica 0.73
138 Mauritius 0.73
139 Tuvalu 0.70
140 Iceland 0.69
141 Liechtenstein 0.65
142 Nauru 0.61
143 Samoa 0.60
144 Bermuda 0.59
145 Spain 0.57
146 Thailand 0.57
147 United Kingdom 0.56
148 Grenada 0.55
149 Korea, North 0.54
150 France 0.50
151 China 0.49
152 Hong Kong 0.45
153 Montserrat 0.45
154 Guernsey 0.44
155 Faroe Islands 0.43
156 Italy 0.42
157 Kazakhstan 0.40
158 Saint Lucia 0.39
159 Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha 0.38
160 Malta 0.38
161 Netherlands 0.37
162 Barbados 0.37
163 Palau 0.36
164 Wallis and Futuna 0.36
165 Lesotho 0.33
166 Andorra 0.33
167 Norway 0.33
168 El Salvador 0.32
169 Gibraltar 0.27
170 Albania 0.27
171 Puerto Rico 0.25
172 Denmark 0.25
173 Macedonia 0.25
174 Lebanon 0.24
175 Tonga 0.24
176 Uruguay 0.23
177 Korea, South 0.23
178 Dominica 0.21
179 Portugal 0.21
180 Switzerland 0.21
181 Taiwan 0.19
182 Sweden 0.16
183 Slovakia 0.12
184 Greece 0.08
185 Finland 0.08
186 Belgium 0.07
187 Armenia 0.06
188 Greenland 0.05
189 Austria 0.03
190 Falkland Islands 0.01
191 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.01
192 Norfolk Island 0.01
193 Holy See 0.00
194 Christmas Island 0.00
195 Pitcairn Islands 0.00
196 Cocos (Keeling) Islands 0.00
197 Tokelau -0.01
198 Svalbard -0.02
199 Niue -0.03
200 Poland -0.06
201 Moldova -0.07
202 Croatia -0.08
203 Virgin Islands -0.08
204 Trinidad and Tobago -0.09
205 Cuba -0.10
206 Czech Republic -0.12
207 Monaco -0.12
208 Maldives -0.15
209 Slovenia -0.16
210 Hungary -0.17
211 Germany -0.21
212 Romania -0.25
213 Lithuania -0.28
214 Japan -0.28
215 Micronesia, Federated States of -0.31
216 Georgia -0.33
217 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines -0.33
218 Belarus -0.36
219 South Africa -0.38
220 Guyana -0.44
221 Serbia -0.47
222 Russia -0.47
223 Latvia -0.60
224 Ukraine -0.62
225 Estonia -0.64
226 Montenegro -0.71
227 Bulgaria -0.78
228 Saint Pierre and Miquelon -0.97
229 Cook Islands -3.20
230 Northern Mariana Islands -4.00

That fails to address it from an absolute point rather than relative to other countries. Even at 0.1 % rate Nigeria would still be expanding faster than Zimbabwe due to the large population on ground.

Kabikala:

Well, DaLover, regarding the bolded part of your statement, you are absolutely wrong. Many underdeveloped countries are improving access and use of contraceptives for their people. Ethiopia increased its Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR - the proportion of married women of reproductive age using a modern contraceptive method) from 8% in 2000 to 15% in 2005 and 29% in 2011, yet they are a very poor country. While Nigeria has a CPR of 10%, Ghana has 19%, India 49% and Iran 77%. In Brazil, average number of children per woman is 2.5 while Nigerians have an average of 5.7. All these countries are developing countries but you can see that those that prioritize the issue of how to address population explosion are all making progress.
It is like the egg and chicken. Do you wait for development before checking unrestrained population growth? Or you tackle the challenge of population explosion in your quest to achieve development?

@Kobojunkie: Thumbs up for your ability to see the big picture!

I just don't understand why people will keep insisting on implementing policies that have either failed or are failing...to me this amounts to hitting ur head against a brick wall hoping that it would move.....in this country nigeria we have tried several enlightenment campaigns with remarkable failure....and it doesnt occur to yoj guys that what is at play here is a cultural attitude, and one of the greatest changers of such cultural attitudes is social economical directions......

Look at this simple example, in nigeria now, middle class people working in banks, oil companies, telecoms sector, insurance etc are having 3 or 4 children at most....there was no enlightenment campaigns, no punitive taxes, no free condoms campaigns......how and why are these middle class nigerians deciding to have smaller managable families.....

As long as poor people feel that one of the many spawn children is a possible ticket to a good life, he will keep trying his luck.....tdying to point out the negatives to him and he will say na blessings from God...

Saying that we cant wait to be developed before population reduces means u r getting it wrong because it shows that you are like kobojunkie in your subconscious believe that nigerian can never develop.....now if you have choosen to express this believe indirectly, why should the country remain one then? I

Kobojunkie:

Correction -- The report that middle class Nigerians have 3-4 children works only if you focus on a subset because the average number of children per female in the same Nigeria has GONE UP . . . notice, it has not come down but has gone up. The birth rate in the country has gone up even as the claims that middle class Nigerians now only have 3-4 children keeps making rounds. How do you explain that one?

You apparently did not get the gist, and to repeat myself again....
I was not talking about averages in nigerias population going up or down...please understand what i am saying carefully....
Here i go again slowly this time....

1 countries that experience economic growth also experience a reduction in population growth rate.

2 Poorer countries always have a high growth rate....

Are we good so far? If so proceed to the next line, else stop reading.

If u have gotten to this stage then u totally understand 1 and 2. Lets look at nigeria.

3 Among the new families, parents between 27 to 38, Middle class people in this country have fewer children. Between 3 to 4 kids

4 Poorer people in the same age range have more children....

if you dont agree on this 4 points you can stop here, if you do, then what can be interpreted? If it isnt already obvious, let me state it....

Industrialization > economic development > economic empowerment > more education >less reliance on lucky hit from producing so many children....

That's what has happened to industrialized countries, that what happened to the small middle class in Nigeria and that's how to get the general population growth rate down.

DaLover:

You apparently did not get the gist, and to repeat myself again....
I was not talking about averages in nigerias population going up or down...please understand what i am saying carefully....
Here i go again slowly this time....

1 countries that experience economic growth also experience a reduction in population growth rate.

2 Poorer countries always have a high growth rate....

Are we good so far? If so proceed to the next line, else stop reading.

If u have gotten to this stage then u totally understand 1 and 2. Lets look at nigeria.

3 Among the new families, parents between 27 to 38, Middle class people in this country have fewer children. Between 3 to 4 kids

4 Poorer people in the same age range have more children....

if you dont agree on this 4 points you can stop here, if you do, then what can be interpreted? If it isnt already obvious, let me state it....

Industrialization > economic development > economic empowerment > more education >less reliance on lucky hit from producing so many children....

That's what has happened to industrialized countries, that what happened to the small middle class in Nigeria and that's how to get the general population growth rate down.

No, we are not good. We are not saying the same things and we do not agree on this at all. So, there.

Kobojunkie:


No, we are not good. We are not saying the same things and we do not agree on this at all. So, there.

Thanks for being honest!!

DaLover:

Thanks for being honest!!

shut it, you sound like an ideeiot

alj harem:

shut it, you sound like an ideeiot

OR

It could be that you hear like an ideeiot!!

odumchi: Dividing Nigeria is the only solution to the ever-growing population. However, at this stage, this really isn't a problem because Nigeria isn't as congested as the article makes it seem. The guy just visited Lagos and therefore assumed that the entire country was as congested as Lagos.

If we had three countries of 50 million people, we wouln't be debating this now. The crux of the matter is that there is plenty of bread (oil money) to go around so people are just multiplying all over the place. If Nigeria divides and that "bread" leaves, then there won't be anything to support the rapid population growth and birth rates would decline. It's pretty simple the way I see it!

Now, if Nigeria adopts a social welfare program like the Unuted States, then expect to see many more people. However no matter what happens, Nigeria will not be as crowded as the journalist is making it seem anytime now or in the forseable future.

Is line in bold an excuse for the rapidly growing population? The population growth rate is unsustainable - that is the fact.

.

Nnenna1: @all4Naija - what is sustainable growth in your opinion?

You just mentioned that a 0.1% growth rate is bad. What is your solution - that Nigerians don't reproduce at all? Don't get your point. At the current growth rate Nigeria's population will be in the 300's of millions by 2050. The population density even then won't be as close to those of many asian countries.

If your worry is to curtail the population growth then as DaLover mentioned poverty alleviation and an increased standard of living is the only option. Children are assumed to be (and ARE) social security for the poor. That is the whole point. So campaign about family planning all you want but people who need kids will have them. Aim to solve the poverty problem by 2050 and encourage women to value the workforce and careers.

Lol, More poor people know about condoms and birth control pills than you think.

I never said that. I said even at 0.1% Nigerian population would still be larger than Zimbabwe in comparison, which is different from what you are hinting upon. Yes,there has to be family planning to address family size, education(awareness and academic)with benefits,use of contraception by the youths,law prohibiting marry many women by some chiefs and the rich(this might not have positive effect but worth looking at),avoiding child pregnancy, ect.

I say again, the Nigerian population growth is not sustainable at the rate it is expanding. There also have to be border control to wad off illegal immigrants increasing the population now and then.