I am writing this open letter, sitting on a couch in the three-bedroom apartment of a retired civil servant who had used his youthful mental and physical strength to serve the country in the then Lagos State Ministry of Urban and Regional Planning. Engineer Jendo, as we his neighbors fondly call him, are already used to regularly visiting the household of the old retiree. Here is already a striving family of seven mature adults excluding parents and the potentiality of another pregnant young lady to be taken in as second wife by this same Engr Jendo. It is either we are called upon to help settle a quarel with Mrs Olanike, his wife or to remind his under-employed graduates that they have no other father-figure to make their confidant especially, one who still shoulders virtually all family expenses for that matter.

While some Nigerians may have decided to live in the fantasy world of their own self-denial. And some who might as well, decided to be more selfish and less nationalistic in their thinking, attitude and deeds in the coming year. It is expedient at this time to remind people to eschew all manner of self-centredness. So, I imagine myself writing from the inside of your mind. It is your idea and the writer is only doing the job of putting thoughts down on black and white. The issue in discourse is not alien to us as Nigerians. It is no other but child proliferation or to be called subtly, child procreation which is a very common practice among people below the middle class of the society.

It is an issue that everyone, irrespective of their ethnic and religious affiliations must be willing to address and reach a compromise for the good of all and sundry. Expectedly, governments at all levels should be seen taking the lead by consistently sensitizing the public or come up with a legislation to legalize and give a somehow holistic position of this fundamental issue but surprisingly, it is being handled with levity. And if we fail to deal with it now as other countries have started doing, it will deal with us ruthlessly - in very near future. No time is as critical as now!

As sweet and heavens-reaching pleasure a 10-minute sexual activity can be, it equally has the sole capacity of causing far-reaching dangers for the country and depriving us the minimum standards of living expected of normal human beings in any working society, if that activity lacks adequate planning from the beginning. A country of about 200 million people where a citizen lives on less than three dollar a day and running year in year out on a period of deficit national budget with no visible state-of-the-art social infrastructural amenities in sight should not be seen celebrating unnecessary and unjustifiable population increase the way we do in this country. As people , we should introspect and begin to be proactive rather than search for solutions after seeing problems grow wings. We can in our little ways, start to change the navigation through which the undesirable journey the Nigerian socio-economic ship is heading. We should make this a top priority from now on. We cannot continue to increase in number with no corresponding infrastructure to match the geometrically- growing figure.

Let's go a bit further: In the 2020 financial budget that was signed recently, the Federal Government proposed that about one-third of the country's expected spending would go into capital projects namely education, health, road and rail construction and their maintenance, power generation, housing etc, these being the only section of the budget that will have direct impact on the lives of the people next year; any further expenditure on such capital projects can only be made in supplementary budgets which is rare in our polity except for unforeseen contigencies like security and environmental emergencies. Public spending on these cases are again, subject to the approvals of the National Assembly. So if we are contemplating on increasing our family sizes by bringing in new wives or attempting to still multiply (using some people's shallow understanding of the Bible) for no tangible reason, so many other right-thinking Nigerians are begging. Please, have a rethink!

According to WHO in its 2018 world health rankings on global life expectancy, Nigeria is placed 178th among countries whose citizens can expect quality elongated life span. In addition to this report, a Nigerian boy- child born in that year is expected to live for about 54 years and his female counterpart would live about two years older, 55.7 years. Life expectancy is a statistical measure that uses certain factors like the year a child is born, its current age and other demographic data including gender. For those born between 1970 and 2000, life expectancy of a Nigerian baby was averaged 45.4, yet some of us in this fragile cycle live very irresponsibly. Even if we are desirous of an elongated life, our lifestyles would not. In meeting domestic needs, we live and grow with the stress, hustle and bustle found in a city. Emission of toxic gaseous substances emanating from left, right and centre in the industrial city we live in, also would not. Yet we keep on multiplying offspring when we do not have substantial reasons to justify our parochial decisions.

Nigeria's resources and social amenities, from time immemorial are never sufficient and there is no end in sight yet to correct the deficiency. However, if the figure of the users of those facilities is put in check, resources available can conveniently and adequately satisfy the people to use. Pressure on these projects will be lower thereby reducing the cost of maintaining them as well. There are limitless purposes of our creation by the Almighty, of which I want to believe is not just to come into the world and multiply. No purpose can be more essential than serving Him and leaving the world better than we met it.







It should not always be the more the merrier!!!!!https://ngg.ng/2019/12/31/procreation-in-nigeria-an-open-letter-to-every-mr-and-mrs/

Too much spice spoils the taste of food.

Why the too much grammar and beating about the bush in this article is what I dont understand.

WW2...... the beginning of a new world order is about to start.

Brace up for impact!

What powers do you have to tell people the number of children they should have?


Some NGO's have been paid to bring up all this fake stories about having kids and not able to feed them.

Smiles.... Thanks so much for the criticism bro.
Criticisms like this make me know what tone to use in subsequent compositions...

Too much spice spoils the taste of food.

Why the too much grammar and beating about the bush in this article is what I dont understand.

WW2...... the beginning of a new world order is about to start.

Brace up for impact![/quote]

Charleys:
What powers do you have to tell people the number of children they should have?


Some NGO's have been paid to bring up all this fake stories about having kids and not able to feed them.

Why are you like this? Why do you hug poverty so tightly? What’s the fun in having many children anyways? Don’t you like to enjoy the small money you make with your small tight knit family?

We are going into 2020 in a few hours. Rethink your family planning preferences.

OP, I like your article. Do not mind that most people will gloss over the article because they are intellectually lazy to read the message to the end.

I commend you for articulating your points in the article, lacing it with well researched statistics to show the dire situation Nigeria finds herself regarding overpopulation.

Well done & do not be deterred if you do not get the positive response you envisage from this thread. We sane ones copy your message clearly.

Happy New Year in advance.

Rubbish. Stop spewing white man propaganda on NL. White people be even encouraging their transgenders to give birth while discouraging our women. When someone comes to you for upkeep of his family, advice him. Until then, keep your advice to yourself. Me I'm even going for a full dozen. I'll spend my money as I like.

uninspired07:


Why are you like this? Why do you hug poverty so tightly? What’s the fun in having many children anyways? Don’t you like to enjoy the small money you make with your small tight knit family?

We are going into 2020 in a few hours. Rethink your family planning preferences.

You do not have the powers to decide the number of kids a person should have... That's the truth. No one has that powers.

Having a big family is one of the greatest thing a grown man should be happy about.

The rich are having kids but expect the poor not to have kids because the poor can't take care of them.

That's utter foolishness. Self fulfillment is different for each person.

What you consider as wealth is worth some other person will consider as poverty.

You don't know what it means, you are too young.

Charleys:


You do not have the powers to decide the number of kids a person should have... That's the truth. No one has that powers.

Having a big family is one of the greatest thing a grown man should be happy about.

The rich are having kids but expect the poor not to have kids because the poor can't take care of them.

That's utter foolishness. Self fulfillment is different for each person.

What you consider as wealth is worth some other person will consider as poverty.

You don't know what it means, you are too young.

I am too young, cause you’re my parent to know my age?

The people that needs this write up are not here, you know where to find them.

The majority of Nigerians are poor & mostly uneducated—so it’s foolhardy to advocate for deregulation of family planning preferences. Government needs to step in to save poor Nigerians from themselves (reproductive regulation).

We would continue to advocate for population control because we cannot trust uneducated people to decide for themselves. Most of you insulting those of us agitating for family planning are not richer or more educated than us. The fact that we are Africans doesn’t give us the license to be careless & destroy the earth for other races on planet earth.

Whether you like it or not, population control & eugenics has come to stay. We are going into 2020 with full drive to control the unproductive population of Nigeria—and Nigerians like me will be at the forefront of that.

Graxie:
The people that needs this write up are not here, you know where to find them.

They are here. More Nigerians are connected to the internet more than ever—except the Islamic north.

You have spoken well

uninspired07:


They are here. More Nigerians are connected to the internet more than ever—except the Islamic north.

Go up north and pass your message. Most people here can never give birth to 6 or 10 kids.

Graxie:
Go up north and pass your message. Most people here can never give birth to 6 or 10 kids.

The issue of the unevolving & theocratic north will settle itself in the fullness of time. Let’s concentrate on ourselves for the time being.

Leadership and Politics is a game of numbers..

. Have fewer kids if you like, the North will always be in charge due to numbers

Chapter1vs6:
Leadership and Politics is a game of numbers..

. Have fewer kids if you like, the North will always be in charge due to numbers

And you think Nigeria will be same forever?


You can keep overpopulating the earth forever. Some of us have plans too.

Thanks so much sir.

All I just want to let people know is that our population is not proportionate to the resources and social amenities being provided by the government. So it behoves on all of us to monitor what we produce as children....

We will all be better for it.

The majority of Nigerians are poor & mostly uneducated—so it’s foolhardy to advocate for deregulation of family planning preferences. Government needs to step in to save poor Nigerians from themselves (reproductive regulation).

We would continue to advocate for population control because we cannot trust uneducated people to decide for themselves. Most of you insulting those of us agitating for family planning are not richer or more educated than us. The fact that we are Africans doesn’t give us the license to be careless & destroy the earth for other races on planet earth.

Whether you like it or not, population control & eugenics has come to stay. We are going into 2020 with full drive to control the unproductive population of Nigeria—and Nigerians like me will be at the forefront of that.

[/quote]

Thanks. But have U forgotten that their large population does not translate to any human development for more than 70percent of northerners, despite the fact their kinsmen have always been at the helm of affairs. Pls lets think na...

Chapter1vs6:
Leadership and Politics is a game of numbers..

. Have fewer kids if you like, the North will always be in charge due to numbers

Noted Graxie. Well said. If our people down here in the south can inculcate this culture, all well and good.

Graxie:
The people that needs this write up are not here, you know where to find them.

Bro, which white people are encouraging their transgenders to procreate numbers of children indiscriminately as U just remarked? Am talking of how we can do things as commoners to help d economy in our own little ways. Why don't we look at all other purposes of life aside increasing our population unjustifiably? quote author=RisenPhoenix post=85384647]Rubbish. Stop spewing white man propaganda on NL. White people be even encouraging their transgenders to give birth while discouraging our women. When someone comes to you for upkeep of his family, advice him. Until then, keep your advice to yourself. Me I'm even going for a full dozen. I'll spend my money as I like.[/quote]

uninspired07:
The majority of Nigerians are poor & mostly uneducated—so it’s foolhardy to advocate for deregulation of family planning preferences. Government needs to step in to save poor Nigerians from themselves (reproductive regulation).

We would continue to advocate for population control because we cannot trust uneducated people to decide for themselves. Most of you insulting those of us agitating for family planning are not richer or more educated than us. The fact that we are Africans doesn’t give us the license to be careless & destroy the earth for other races on planet earth.

Whether you like it or not, population control & eugenics has come to stay. We are going into 2020 with full drive to control the unproductive population of Nigeria—and Nigerians like me will be at the forefront of that.

Words of a mad man. Are you confusing population with pollution?

damo2014:
Bro, which white people are encouraging their transgenders to procreate numbers of children indiscriminately as U just remarked? Am talking of how we can do things as commoners to help d economy in our own little ways. Why don't we look at all other purposes of life aside increasing our population unjustifiably?

The first is the link to the transgenders having kids;

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/transgender-man-gives-birth-non-21177808?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

The following countries pay incentives to couples to have kids. Notice that no African country is included.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125495746062571927

https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2019/03/29/nations-labor-to-raise-their-birthrates/

Large populations did not hinder China, the US, Brazil or India from developing their economies. It was you that failed to look at all other purposes of life and concentrated on limiting populations. Is that the only advance you can think of? Wanting to have children needs no justifications from white masters. If the earth was so overpopulated, explain why the ones above are paying for more kids.

Charleys:
What powers do you have to tell people the number of children they should have?


Some NGO's have been paid to bring up all this fake stories about having kids and not able to feed them.

Millions of Nigerian kids out of school is fake story?

Those kids given out by their parents as househelps, street hawkers etc are fake stories?

Stories we read and see where some men disappeared when their wives gave birth is also fake?

I just shake head when U are comparing China or Japan that are advanced countries to a developing country that Nigeria is. I reiterate, any developing nation whose public goods are far below their populations both in quality and quantity should never be seen celebrating unnecessary population increase. Am still finding it hard to comprehend ur stand on this issue. quote author=RisenPhoenix post=85390433]

The first is the link to the transgenders having kids;

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/transgender-man-gives-birth-non-21177808?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

The following countries pay incentives to couples to have kids. Notice that no African country is included.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125495746062571927

https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2019/03/29/nations-labor-to-raise-their-birthrates/

Large populations did not hinder China, the US, Brazil or India from developing their economies. It was you that failed to look at all other purposes of life and concentrated on limiting populations. Is that the only advance you can think of? Wanting to have children needs no justifications from white masters. If the earth was so overpopulated, explain why the ones above are paying for more kids.[/quote]

Chapter1vs6:
Leadership and Politics is a game of numbers..

. Have fewer kids if you like, the North will always be in charge due to numbers

Should Nigeria split, what use it that number to the North if it is not economically productive and the continued low human capital development?

damo2014:
I just shake head when U are comparing China or Japan that are advanced countries to a developing country that Nigeria is. I reiterate, any developing nation whose public goods are far below their populations both in quality and quantity should never be seen celebrating unnecessary population increase. Am still finding it hard to comprehend ur stand on this issue.

They did not start out as advanced countries. Post world war II Japan was less developed than post independence Nigeria and had less resources to utilise for development. 1960s China and Germany were wrecks. Malaysia was a mess. Indonesia likewise. Did they get to where they are today by limiting populations or by educating and training that very population to form the bedrock of their development? You have set your mind on the false belief that population is a hindrance and unnecessary because you believe the narrative of USAID and other Western agents that seek to limit non white expansion and want us to remain underdeveloped so that we keep consuming their trash that no one else will buy if we were all equal technologically. That is why you can never see it as the strong resource that it is. No nation has grown relying on an aging population and without a strong vibrant youth base. Your way is too shortsighted. Who takes up the introduction of advanced technology? Where does the manpower come from to drive industry? What Nigeria needs is an educated population not a reduced one.

I now clearly understand the angle U are coming from. It's unfortunate that we in Nigeria do not have that kind of leadership U r still wrongly comparing with the West. What would have made the likes of the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to always kick against the country's growing population. With seminars and leadership sessions he must have attended across the globe on this issue, don't U think it's because he must have concluded that we don't have such responsible political class? Have U quickly forgotten d amount budgeted for education in the 2020 budget, yet U are speaking in favour of this menace. That certain situations become beneficial to some countries doesn't say it will not be a curse to some other countries. For example, is Nigerian abundant crude oil a blessing to us or not? quote author=RisenPhoenix post=85391787]

They did not start out as advanced countries. Post world war II Japan was less developed than post independence Nigeria and had less resources to utilise for development. 1960s China and Germany were wrecks. Malaysia was a mess. Indonesia likewise. Did they get to where they are today by limiting populations or by educating and training that very population to form the bedrock of their development? You have set your mind on the false belief that population is a hindrance and unnecessary because you believe the narrative of USAID and other Western agents that seek to limit non white expansion and want us to remain underdeveloped so that we keep consuming their trash that no one else will buy if we were all equal technologically. That is why you can never see it as the strong resource that it is. No nation has grown relying on an aging population and without a strong vibrant youth base. Your way is too shortsighted. Who takes up the introduction of advanced technology? Where does the manpower come from to drive industry? What Nigeria needs is an educated population not a reduced one.[/quote]

damo2014:
I now clearly understand the angle U are coming from. It's unfortunate that we in Nigeria do not have that kind of leadership U r still wrongly comparing with the West. What would have made the likes of the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to always kick against the country's growing population. With seminars and leadership sessions he must have attended across the globe on this issue, don't U think it's because he must have concluded that we don't have such responsible political class? Have U quickly forgotten d amount budgeted for education in the 2020 budget, yet U are speaking in favour of this menace. That certain situations become beneficial to some countries doesn't say it will not be a curse to some other countries. For example, is Nigerian abundant crude oil a blessing to us or not?

Then campaign for that kind of leadership. And it is not about how much is budgeted for education, but how efficiently and effectively the budgeted amount is implemented. And if a useful resource that is normally a strength becomes a menace to a region, then the right step to take is to eliminate those factors which make it a menace, not eliminate the resource itself. To use your analogy, because you think that abundant crude oil is a menace to Nigeria, are you suggesting we set all the oilfield on fire and leave them to burn out as a solution? Obviously not. That would be a self defeating 'solution'. The right move would be to eliminate the attendant corruption that makes abundant crude oil a menace and use the income more effectively. In the same manner, we only need to educate the abundant human resource as Japan did, and Nigeria could be as great an economic, technology as well as agricultural hub in a single generation; just as Japan, Korea or Germany are today. Burning off the population would just ensure that this never happens in thr next 100 years. Ask China why they reversed their one child policy; or Japan why they pay couples to have kids; or Germany and Canada why they feel the need to take in skilled immigrants on such a latge scale.

Pavore9:


Millions of Nigerian kids out of school is fake story?

Those kids given out by their parents as househelps, street hawkers etc are fake stories?

Stories we read and see where some men disappeared when their wives gave birth is also fake?

Come to this thread and argue.

https://www.nairaland.com/5608413/see-population-why-north-rule

Charleys:



Come to this thread and argue.

https://www.nairaland.com/5608413/see-population-why-north-rule

I need not go to any thread to argue.

Pavore9:


Millions of Nigerian kids out of school is fake story?

Those kids given out by their parents as househelps, street hawkers etc are fake stories?

Stories we read and see where some men disappeared when their wives gave birth is also fake?

Education is not for everyone, we all need basic skills.