@redman 44, the NPC has already started issuing out birth certificates (death certificates issuance is under way). I have witnessed in one of the remotest villages in the North East of Nigeria.

@Olly Pass, thanks. At least, we are getting objective opinion. Lets press on. A lot of people need to be educated so they dont join band wagon.

Ikengawo:

we have 150 million ppl in the country and they don't even pay tax.
just an example of the under utilization of nigeria

  Yes, you are right, most of them dont pay tax but not all of them.

Ikengawo:

i got my stats from the CIA worldfactbook.
our economy is nowhere near stagnate, theirs is,
our 'already' tapped resources aren't any where near enough.
we produce 2.327 million bbl/day in oil and have 149,229,090 ppl, the saudis produce 8.728 million bbl/day and have a population of 28,686,633

so as much as we think our 'already tapped resources' are bountiful, they're nothing in scale of how large nigeria is. our states have larger populations then most african countries and significantly smaller budgets.

but have the potential to produce more wealth then those african countries that is under utilized.

nigerians #1 under utilized resource is nigerian people.

education. education. education.

@ikengawo, please you just need to know some thing. It is not about the bountifulness of the resources but it all comes down how well utilised the resources are. Pls have u been to Niger Delta b4. I gues u need to go after which you go to google and search out Texa (Texas is also an oil producing state). Just find out difference.
Our economy is not stagnant, how has that translated into better condition of living for millions living in the villages. U also said, we have not tapped more than 20% of our resources. Whose fault is that??  
50 years after independence, see where we are. We have the potentials. YES WE DO. But it all comes down to utilisation of those potentials.
Another thing that shoud be clear is the term "over population". A nation can have 1000 persons and still be over populated. That is a fact. USA has a population of over 280 million but yet it is not over populated. A logical question to ask is WHY

     OVER POPULATION refers to a situation in which a country available resources (not available potentials) is less than what can satisfy the population. In essence, over population means THE POPULATION IS GREATER THAN THE AVAILABLE RESOURCES.

^^

Nigeria is already a demographic disaster, just take a look at the tens of millions of idle youths with their warped orientation towards the achievement of paper certificates.

These are people without any future whatsoever because they are basically illiterates but they are all struggling to write JAMB and get into Uni/Poly so that they can graduate & get white collar jobs that are no longer there. Or they're busy inside the cybercafes, sending scam mails all over the world. And they're supposed to be the future of this country. Maybe Babangida was right afterall about the youth not being qualified to lead this country, only he must have been talking about the future, 2050 thereabouts just like the British fuckin Council

But seriously what's with the whiteman's obsession with Africa's population dynamic?

too many nigerian youths flooding britain/europe, that's all.

if the population is reduced, there'll be less for these countries to worry about.

We are simply not productive and the article says it will come to a time when our over population will not match our slow paced productivity.

Pharoh:

We are simply not productive and the article says it will come to a time when our over population will not match our slow paced productivity.

simple

we are not doing much to match the rate of growth

thats all

Pharoh:

We are simply not productive and the article says it will come to a time when our over population will not match our slow paced productivity.

@Pharoh,

Productivity measured by British & America Standards will give you disastrous consequences.

Amhatu:

@Pharoh,
Productivity measured by British & America Standards will give you disastrous consequences.

Nah brother i am not using their method . . . every country should try and develop the way that best suits it.

India, china, south korea and singapore are doing it their own way so we should simply formulate our own policies that is suitable for us which will lead to a sustainable growth and development.

For me instead of paying people unemployment benefit instead they will have to pay additional taxes for being unemployed to the number of years which they were above 18 years and unemployed whenever they find a job. You just don't stay idle that you unemployed and unskilled when there are many unskilled jobs to do in the country. Infact you go to jail or you are forced to the military if you stay unemployed for more than one years. No citizen should be idle, you must be doing something that is beneficial to the country even if you have the money.

Yahoo yahoo boys are lavishing their money here and there instead they should be put to jail for not investing their money in something that is beneficial to the country.

"Nigeria's population is fine as is. Our resources are more then enough to support us, barely 10% of our potential farmland has been tapped, there's more oil to be found, more minerals and industry and finance is JUST now starting."

Well, they probably recognize that Nigeria has untapped resources that can be exploited. No doubt their intention when they talk about too much population growth is that they don't intend for Nigeria to have all that wealth. The lower Nigeria's population the less they have to share. This just seems to be the way big business and big government thinks. Sad to say, someone somewhere has it earmarked, you can be sure.

Pharoh:

Nah brother i am not using their method . . . every country should try and develop the way that best suits it.

India, china, south korea and singapore are doing it their own way so we should simply formulate our own policies that is suitable for us which will lead to a sustainable growth and development.

For me instead of paying people unemployment benefit instead they will have to pay additional taxes for being unemployed to the number of years which they were above 18 years and unemployed  whenever they find a job. You just don't stay idle that you unemployed and unskilled when there are many unskilled jobs to do in the country. Infact you go to jail or you are forced to the military if you stay unemployed for more than one years. No citizen should be idle, you must be doing something that is beneficial to the country even if you have the money.

Yahoo yahoo boys are lavishing their money here and there instead they should be put to jail for not investing their money in something that is beneficial to the country.

@Pharoh,

Good Valid points.

All,

Nigeria is not overpopulated. There is no population disaster in Nigeria now. We have abundant resources. Our problem is leadership greed, mismanagement and corruption.

Everyone must not discount the fact that we are not utilising our economic resources wisely. This could lead to poverty on a larger scale - population growth or not.

Britain is not as rich as Nigeria in terms of natural resources, human resources and climate.

In fact Britain is mostly surviving on tax revenue.

Nigeria leaders should wake-up and lead the country.

Please permit me to complete that statement in bold for you " In fact, Britain is mostly surviving on tax revenue and the high Tuition fees they collect from International Students"

It amazes me the way I see Universities from UK, bombarding Nigeria Newspapers with their Admissions Information. You have to sit for some entrance tests/exams just to enroll into some universities in Nigeria, despite the fact that our standard of education is poor. Meanwhile, many great schools in UK recruiting from Nigeria will still grant you on the spot admission. Yes! just attend their seminars and be qualified and its done. For example, you have  Bachelors degree from Nigeria with 2.2. You might still not be considered for a Masters Degree in Unilag if you do not pass the post graduate entrance test. Take that same result to any of those U.K schools advertising in Nigerian News papers. You will be surprised to find out that you could be admitted the same day! Why? because they need your money to run their economy. Why do you think most U.K schools will require to pay your fees up front (even without their visa) while many accredited schools in US wouldn't do that?

What I'm I trying to say here? Britain will keep saying rubbish about us here. Yet they will never leave us alone. If they know we are this bad; why not do away with us? Take it or leave it, even as we have a stagnant economy or derailing one, they can't even hide it that they need us to survive. Well, I will not blame them completely. If not for our failing leaders and government; why do we keep giving them money despite how poor they say we are in the name good education, medical treatment, vacation, shopping and other reasons for which we give them money to run their own economy.

I still have hope in Nigeria and I believe that one day, our population could be to our own advantage.

In opinion i think the British council claim is unfounded. Going by the Rule of 70 (70/growth rate) Nigeria's GDP will double by 2050 i.e. at a growth rate of 1.75%, which to me is very achievable. So if by 2050 GDP doubles and population grows by 42%, are we not at least better off. Besides, some economists are claiming that in the next 15 - 20yrs Nigeria may become the largest economy in Africa.

Re-reading the original article there are two areas that come into play:

1) The message
2) The messenger


The message is very plausible. Naija already has enormous problems, and to a large extent, many female youths are now aristos or waiting to be married off to shaddy men in Yankee. Many male youths are in MEND, MASSOB, Islamic militant groups, internet cafe's, political assassins, etc. The remaining youth are in the middle of all the chaos. Yet those who are to show direction (i.e. Yerima) are busy globetrotting, marrying 13 year olds, embezzling, aristo-ing, or having 8 kids in the village that has no light.

So at least, the message is plausible and should be taken serious.

The messenger, representing the British/British gov't, has played and continues to play a large extent in the destruction of the African people. They wont say or add the full picture, that the British/British Gov't are not naturally superior, but greedy and have 419ed the world siiiiiiiiiiiince!

Lets keep this in mind,

Our economy is growing, but is the wealth of the nation being spread equitable?

The answer is NO

When you have a large amount of impoverished people, then CONFLICT arises. We have no social welfare in this country while the politicians loot loot loot.

Thank you, British council.

This is what I was actually trying to touch on some months ago.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-315319.0.html

akom:

In opinion i think the British council claim is unfounded. Going by the Rule of 70 (70/growth rate) Nigeria's GDP will double by 2050 i.e. at a growth rate of 1.75%, which to me is very achievable. So if by 2050 GDP doubles and population grows by 42%, are we not at least better off. Besides, some economists are claiming that in the next 15 - 20yrs Nigeria may become the largest economy in Africa.

I agree with your assessment because after looking at it, I agreed, however no offense but I wanted to point out what I think are is somewhat underestimated in your calculation. "Using the Rule of 70", you said that Nigeria's GDP would double by 2050 at a constant growth rate of 1.75 which is 40 years, calculation is right based on your 1.75% but it isn't consistent. If you saying for every 1.75% annual growth for the next 40 years, a population growth of 1.05% over the next 40 years is ok, these's a big problem. A ratio of 1.7:1.0 is too low, that is economic poverty. I would expect more as a 5:1 ratio.

Assuming that Nigeria's GDP is $380 billion, then an increase in of 1.75% would result to $6.6 billion dollars and if Nigeria's population stand at 150 million, and at an increase of 1.05%, that would be 1,575 (thousand) or 1.575 million. Comparing these numbers to find annual GDP per household, that is $4,222. For a developing nation like Nigeria in 2050, hmmm I don't think it's the best in my own opinion. Nigeria can never be giant with that number.

In other words, while I agree with your analysis, it's somewhat flawed and compared to concerns of the British council, then your analysis is somewhat consistent to their findings.

I feel ashamed whenever I hear people supporting such silly comments from the "Almighty white massa". If at all we as a people ever heed or learn any lessons from our past, then we ought to know that Europeans lack any moral legitimacy to tell us what is best for us (Africans). Their (oyinbos) superiority and exploitative complex knows no bound.  I cant imagine an African country or organization telling Europeans how to run their house holds.When they (Europeans) were breeding and infesting Europe, and every nooks and crannies of this world  like rats, did someone go to tell them to bring their population under control?  

"Whites" are scared shiiit of Africa's population growth more than ever, mainly because of their population decline. They have been unable to make us to follow suit  despite all the diseases they created to curtail our population growths. Their is just no remedy for their problem. Karma is a biitch!

Whenever issues of environment and global natural resources comes up, they are quick to point fingers at Africans population growth while ignoring the fact that 1 person in their so-called developed countries,  does environmental damage and consumes  world resources equivalent to those of 10 people in developing nations.

Nigeria does not have a population problem.  The country has the resources to accommodate and support the entire  population of West Africa. Same can be said of many other countries in Africa.  No other continent has the abundant natural resources Africa has, and it is the only continent that can 100% sustain itself without having to look outward. We alone have the solutions to our problems.

This arguments are very weak.

Ikengawo:

this is silly and i'll be ashamed to see nigerians fall for this nonsense.

what population disaster? because nigeria's population is bigger then their?
why point to nigeria even, is it the biggest country in the world, or even the fastest growing?

Because Nigeria can not and has not supported the ones it has at the moment, yet it is growing fast stewpidly.

Ikengawo:

Nigeria's population is fine as is. Our resources are more then enough to support us, barely 10% of our potention farmland has been tapped, there's more oil to be found, more minerals and industry and finance is JUST now starting.

70% of Nigerians are living in poverty.

Oil is sustaining the country. Oil exploration is intense and almost exhausted in Nigeria. Oil reserves is forecasted to last 41 years. Furthermore, what guarantee is there that in another 50 years Oil would still be so relevant?

With our Oil boom and large population, 70% are living in poverty despite oil being the easy resource to generate, and you are keeping your hopes that things will be better when the population doubles and we have to focus on resources that are harder to generate?

Ikengawo:

Economic Growth Rates

Nigeria
6.1% (2009 est.)

United Kingdom
-4.9% (2009 est.)

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ni.html

This is like a man with a family of 12 kids and 2 wife that makes N100K per month getting pay increase of 10% one year saying he is better off than a man with 4 kids and a wife that makes N1m per month that had his salary decrease by 5% by his company in one year.

Ikengawo:

Nigeria's population growth is actually very stable

Nigeria
  Population growth rate:
1.999% (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 61

i guess the 61st fastest growing population in the world is the one that's racing to disaster right.

oyibo people are hopeless and hate the fact the coming century will belong to others.

You have to understand the base of growth and density levels.

A family of 4 (man, wife and 2 kids) living in a 40 bed mansion, giving birth to one baby per year is in a faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar better position than a family of 12 living in a 3 bedroom apartment having more kids.

Nigeria's base is already high, so even a 2% growth rate is significant.

All the 60 countries above Nigeria in growth rates are either:

1) Coming from a low base

2) Not sane countries

In regards to density, that is more complex. We need to understand what proportion of Nigeria is habitable and arable to sustain the population before we can understand right density to support good quality of life.

It is stated that the max limit that the UK can rightly sustain is 70m people. They are on 59m at the moment.

beknown:

All,

Nigeria is not overpopulated. There is no population disaster in Nigeria now. We have abundant resources. Our problem is leadership greed, mismanagement and corruption.

Everyone must not discount the fact that we are not utilising our economic resources wisely. This could lead to poverty on a larger scale - population growth or not.

Britain is not as rich as Nigeria in terms of natural resources, human resources and climate.

In fact Britain is mostly surviving on tax revenue.

Nigeria leaders should wake-up and lead the country.

You must be havin a laff!

What abundant resources? What does Nigeria have that UK does not have?

Your likes keep on screaming platitudes about oil. You think UK does not produce oil? You think because they consume oil so much that they can not export, that means they are not oil producers? You think because Oil makes up more than 90% of your GDP and yet barely has any significance in UK GDP that makes your have more natural resources?

Britain is not as rich as Nigeria in Human resources?

What is good about our Human resources? Our poorly educated people?

Please stop making me laugh.

Britain is mostly surviving on tax revenue?

And that is a negative thing?

I order you to laugh because I can't laugh no more.

Sagamite:

You must be havin a laff!

What abundant resources? What does Nigeria have that UK does not have?

You likes keep on screaming about oil. You think UK does not produce oil? You think because they consume oil so much that they can not export, that means they are not oil producers? You think because Oil makes up more than 90% of your GDP and yet barely has any significance in UK GDP that makes your have more natural resources?

Britain is not as rich as Nigeria in Human resources?

What is good about our Human resources? Our poorly educated people?

Please stop making me laugh.

Britain is mostly surviving on tax revenue?

And that is a negative thing?

I order you to laugh because I can't laugh no more.

Maple:



Nigeria does not have a population problem.  The country has the resources to accommodate and support the entire  population of West Africa. Same can be said of many other countries in Africa.  No other continent has the abundant natural resources Africa has, and it is the only continent that can 100% sustain itself without having to look outward. We alone have the solutions to our problems.

I have problem with this particular statement. Although I was late to highlight it but @Sagamite did, more than 70% of Nigerians are currently living below the poverty line; under $1 per day. Now if you base your argument on that, then we have a serious problem because Nigeria is not the only country with natural resources yet so many countries are doing better than $1 a day. Just my opinion.

tkb417:

Nothing to make noise about

all im reading are conditional statements

If A happens, Z would occur; if A doesnt happen, their is a tendency B would happen

who says our resources wont be optimally utilized say 2020?

Im one of the people who believe the sustainance of our democracy would probably be the catalyst to the kinda devpt we have dreamt of.

all we need is a visionary leader - someone in the mould of saraki and fashola and we'll will be singing another tune

Ive always been of the opinion 9jas population would be to our advantage in SOON

The reality is that our exploding population has a higher probability to be a source of negative than a positive.

Moreso, as it is a heavily heterogenous society unlike Japan. And the mentality is already what is termed Major League Fcked Up. When we start fighting for limited resources, it would be brutal.

People keep on talking about potential and untapped this and that.

To tap anything, you think it does not take time and the build up of expertise?

Will we be able to build this up before the population explode in our face when we can not even take care of the one we have now?

A country that needs more than twice its ENTIRE annual budget to generate enough power to provide 24hr light for its current population is not bothered that the population will almost double in 40 years.

We are even yet to touch the cost of other infracstructural development (from the crap we currently have) to support such a population growth. Dem go see pot-hole die. Slums go plenty.

The more the population grows the worse things will be for people.

ziddy:

^^

Nigeria is already a demographic disaster, just take a look at the tens of millions of idle youths with their warped orientation towards the achievement of paper certificates.

These are people without any future whatsoever because they are basically illiterates but they are all struggling to write JAMB and get into Uni/Poly so that they can graduate & get white collar jobs that are no longer there. Or they're busy inside the cybercafes, sending scam mails all over the world. And they're supposed to be the future of this country.

GBAM!

That is our superior Human resources than the UK. 

Morons like seanet02 call themselves literate.

aktunde:

What I'm I trying to say here? Britain will keep saying rubbish about us here. Yet they will never leave us alone. If they know we are this bad; why not do away with us? Take it or leave it, even as we have a stagnant economy or derailing one, they can't even hide it that they need us to survive.

You are suffering from a severe self delusion.

You need some cognitive reformation to recover.

I will start by giving you a therapeutic lead: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_distortion

Don't worry, you are not alone. Alot of people in/from groups that feel inferior, or has underachieved, when compared to another group suffer from this delusion as well.

Sagamite:

You are suffering from a severe self delusion.

You need some cognitive reformation to recover.

I will start by giving you a therapeutic lead: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_distortion

Don't worry, you are not alone. Alot of people in/from groups that feel inferior, or has underachieved, when compared to another group suffer from this delusion as well.

No, he's not suffering for delusion, your just suffering from ignorance and stupidity. Read more and learn about controversies that are going on in the world and in the news. Nigeria is not overpopulating in the way that Britain is making it seem. Open your eyes because from what you've typed you know nothing. Look up the Depopulation Agenda, u can even youtube it.Better yet just go on CNN webnews or BBC web news. Hell type it in the search engine lol. You are the one suffering from the inferiority complex.

chyz:

No, he's not suffering for delusion, your just suffering from ignorance and stupidity. [b]Read more and learn about controversies that are going on in the world and in the news. [/b]Nigeria is not overpopulating in the way that Britain is making it seem. Open your eyes because from what you've typed you know nothing. Look up the Depopulation Agenda, u can even youtube it.Better yet just go on CNN webnews or BBC web news. Hell type it in the search engine lol. You are the one suffering from the inferiority complex.

What kinds of news? About population or economy, please explain. After reading the article, what did u deduce so far from the article?

manny4life:


What kinds of news? About population or economy, please explain. After reading the article, what did u deduce so far from the article?

After reading throug the whole article i have deduced this argument as another ploy to cause panic and pressure African countries,like nigeria, into British agenda. They are introducing nothing to nigeria as facr as development that nigeria isnt doing already to boost its economy. Nigeria invests in telecommunication heavily and manufacturing investments are on an increase. Its in its development stages.

This is a rerun of what britain always does, make the country believe that they are in turmoil that they cant get out of, and they have the answer and cure. This is how the agenda pushing always begins.They just want to build their own manufacturing companies and telecom companies in nigeria to exploit its people and resources.

chyz:

After reading throug the whole article i have deduced this argument as another ploy to cause panic and pressure African countries,like nigeria, into British agenda. They are introducing nothing to nigeria as facr as development that nigeria isnt doing already to boost its economy. Nigeria invests in telecommunication heavily and manufacturing investments are on an increase. Its in its development stages.

This is a rerun of what britain always does, make the country believe that they are in turmoil that they cant get out of, and they have the answer and cure. This is how the agenda pushing always begins.They just want to build their own manufacturing companies and telecom companies in nigeria to exploit its people and resources.

Which manufacturing investments?

asha 80:

Which manufacturing investments?

Go read the business sections in the nigerian newspapers. Innosons car manufacturing is going to be one of the big ones as well.

chyz:

After reading throug the whole article i have deduced this argument as another ploy to cause panic and pressure African countries,like nigeria, into British agenda. They are introducing nothing to nigeria as facr as development that nigeria isnt doing already to boost its economy. Nigeria invests in telecommunication heavily and manufacturing investments are on an increase. Its in its development stages.

This is a rerun of what britain always does, make the country believe that they are in turmoil that they cant get out of, and they have the answer and cure. This is how the agenda pushing always begins.They just want to build their own manufacturing companies and telecom companies in nigeria to exploit its people and resources.

Did u say another ploy? hmmmm why am I not surprised? Let me ask you, how much investment in telecomm and manufacturing represent Nigeria's growth and GDP? I mean if u add all of them put together; telecom and manufacturing, what %do they represent? Besides, what manufacturing are you talking about? What major market is Nigeria manufacturing? Autos? Electronics? Aerospace? I mean what market is Nigeria Manufacturing in?

chyz:

Go read the business sections in the nigerian newspapers. Innosons car manufacturing is going to be one of the big ones as well.

lol, You're funny. You mean this same person that Ghana is soliciting as well to come build plants there? Besides, this company has no "TRACK RECORD". I mean they are still in the startup phase, I mean they are small although it's manufacturing but I would count on then yet because they are yet to build success in Auto manufacturing and gain market presence.

manny4life:


Did u say another ploy? hmmmm why am I not surprised? Let me ask you, how much investment in telecomm and manufacturing represent Nigeria's growth and GDP? I mean if u add all of them put together; telecom and manufacturing, what %do they represent? Besides, what manufacturing are you talking about? What major market is Nigeria manufacturing? Autos? Electronics? Aerospace? I mean what market is Nigeria Manufacturing in?

I swear some of you people find it so hard to read and later you will go to someone from another country and speak nonsense about nigeria. If you want to know the READ!!!!!!