The main advantage of (Nigeria's -not other countries, just Nigeria's) our large population are all potential, such as huge market, better and greater sports people, more educated folks, etc. We have not realized (at least on % basis) any of these yet.

However, we have achieved all the disadvantages of a huge population, and counting, namely

More criminals in and out of the country
More asylum-seeking folks all over Europe and America (even when we are not at war)
More HIV, Polio etc
More blind people
More illiterates
More drug pushers
More ritualists
more visa racketeers
More fake pastors and imams
More terrorists (Boko Haram etc)
More unviable states
More government officials, in many cases with duplicated functions
More corrupt politicians
more inefficiency
more mediocrity
More political parties seeking to grab their own share of the cake
More unemployed youths
low GDP (on PPP basis)
More second hand vehicles and other hard appliances
More fakers of goods and services
more rapists
Please help complete list. Thanks.

A country such as Nigeria will be better managed if  less unwieldy. This can more easily come about by less population

all what you've listed are not the disadvantages of our 'overpopulation'.
you can start from:
* overstretched infrastructures

careytommy:

all what you've listed are not the disadvantages of our 'overpopulation'.
you can start from:
* overstretched infrastructures

They are not disadvantages of our huge population, or they are, [b]in addition [/b]to the one you mentioned? Can you clarify? Thanks.
BTW, how did the overstretching come about? Could it be due to mediocrity and incompetence, factors I already listed?
How come infrastructure in the US (more than 2x our population) are not as overstretched?

low per capita income . lol

@ OP, below are some more disadvantages that need to be added to your list:

More "desert ninjas" (those nigerians that travel to europe via the sahara desert).
More tribalists (ask nairaland or other nigerian fora)
More fantasy tales emanating from the so called village "empires" of nigerian dungeon that all capitulated at the mere sight of dane-gun-wielding white men.
More groups with ethnic identity crises.
More fictional tales by ijaw with respect to their population, which in reality is not more than a mere 3M.
More/perpetual darkness as there can never be 24/7 electricy.
More clowns to try out their bullet proof charm,,,,ask the OPC guy who is now 6ft below the sea level.
More people to brand themselves as "politically shofishticated", even if such tag is arrived at via treachery.
More ewusa/fulani pigs clinging onto "born to rule" mentality.
More Igbo fools who will keep investing outside their region, thus endagering their lives and those of their family.
More foolish Igbo parents who have abdicated their responsiblity of telling their children about the events of 1966-1970, thereby making them vulnerable to future dangers.
More Igbo fools (male and female) who keep getting involved in a bound-to-be suicidal intertribal marriage/relationship specifically with the sworn enemies of Biafra.
Above all, the greatest disadvantage of them all is the difficulty in stemming the growing tide of "efulefuism" in Igboland

Slightly OT, but naija's population doesn't seem to give it any advantage over smaller countries.

Take a look at the recently released list of 2011 PECASE winners:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/26/president-obama-honors-outstanding-early-career-scientists

No Nigerian names. Possibly no black or African names.

Several Persian names. And Iran is 1/2 the size of Nigeria.

So what is the point of all this population?

Doesn't seem useful for doing anything, does it?

Quality >>> quantity.

Better a country of 2 million that performs well on average versus an underperforming country of 160 million.

We are doing something deeply, deeply wrong as a people, country, and continent. I grow more and more pessimistic about our prospects.

its because oof people like david telephone is not for the poor mark

arseholes are too daft to see that nigeria is a giant market that can make us all rich

s'what happens when stealing is your way of generating income

ekt_bear:

Slightly OT, but naija's population doesn't seem to give it any advantage over smaller countries.

Take a look at the recently released list of 2011 PECASE winners:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/26/president-obama-honors-outstanding-early-career-scientists

No Nigerian names. Possibly no black or African names.

Several Persian names. And Iran is 1/2 the size of Nigeria.

So what is the point of all this population?

Doesn't seem useful for doing anything, does it?

Quality >>> quantity.

Better a country of 2 million that performs well on average versus an underperforming country of 160 million.

We are doing something deeply, deeply wrong as a people, country, and continent. I grow more and more pessimistic about our prospects.

Chyke Doubeni on that list is of Nigerian origin. Probably from the SE going by his first name.

http://www.umassmed.edu/fmch/faculty/Doubeni_Chyke.cfm

He got his medical degree in Lagos.

ekt_bear:

Slightly OT, but naija's population doesn't seem to give it any advantage over smaller countries.

Take a look at the recently released list of 2011 PECASE winners:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/26/president-obama-honors-outstanding-early-career-scientists

No Nigerian names. Possibly no black or African names.

Several Persian names. And Iran is 1/2 the size of Nigeria.

So what is the point of all this population?

Doesn't seem useful for doing anything, does it?

Quality >>> quantity.

Better a country of 2 million that performs well on average versus an underperforming country of 160 million.

We are doing something deeply, deeply wrong as a people, country, and continent. I grow more and more pessimistic about our prospects.

I think the issue here is just money. Smart people often avoid going into academia if their family's economic situation is not comfortable.

Nigeria has produced some quality individuals in academia, but yeah, not enough relative its size.


Nigeria is far from academically challenged, though, in terms of human potential. It's just that poor countries don't have money to invest in science.

Some of the Nigerians I came across when looking up African academics were impressive.


On Iran being half the size of Nigeria, maybe you should compare only one half of Nigeria to modern Iran, to get a better perspective. We should compare apples to apples, right? Iran is the most scientifically inclined Muslim country on the planet, after all. Whereas, at least half of Nigeria (or more) is. . .

PhysicsQED:


Chyke Doubeni on that list is of Nigerian origin. Probably from the SE going by his first name.

http://www.umassmed.edu/fmch/faculty/Doubeni_Chyke.cfm

He got his medical degree in Lagos.

Interesting, I didn't know that. Last name didn't sound Nigerian at all to me when I glanced at the list.

Still, although this particular example isn't as tight as I'd have liked, overall I think the point made (a country under-performing relative to its population) stands.

PhysicsQED:

I think the issue here is just money. Smart people often avoid going into academia if their family's economic situation is not comfortable.

Nigeria has produced some quality individuals in academia, but yeah, not enough relative its size.

It isn't academia alone that bothers me. I'm talking just about the # of Nigerians you'd even see studying useful things relative to other lower-income countries that are comparable or much smaller in size. I just see a general negative pattern, and am not sure it will ever quite be fixed. Unless something drastic is done.

His last name might be one of those "unique" last names that certain "Igboid" groups like Ikwerre or a few Delta Igbos use to claim that they aren't Igbo.

@ ekt bear, what useless things are Nigerians studying that you've come across where you're at?

The only person I came across was one girl who was studying philosophy.

I came across another girl studying psychology who later switched to pre-med.

Almost all the Nigerians I came across were studying a pre-med course or engineering or in rare cases they were studying mathematics or physics. Other than that, I don't see that many Nigerians studying "useless" things.

So what would be a fair comparison?

Anyway even if you want to ignore northern Nigeria and focus on southern Nigeria alone (which is roughly similar in population to Iran), still not comparable.

Granted, we can say X, Y and Z happened, this is why Nigeria is underperforming. But Iran has had several pretty bad events in its recent history too.

PhysicsQED:

@ ekt bear, what useless things are Nigerians studying that you've come across where you're at?

The only person I came across was one girl who was studying philosophy.

I came across another girl studying psychology who later switched to pre-med.

Almost all the Nigerians I came across were studying a pre-med course or engineering or in rare cases they were studying mathematics or physics. Other than that, I don't see that many Nigerians studying "useless" things.

Sociology, black studies, things of that sort.

But the statement is about # studying useful things across groups, not comparing # studying useless things.

ekt_bear:

So what would be a fair comparison?

Anyway even if you want to ignore northern Nigeria and focus on southern Nigeria alone (which is roughly similar in population to Iran), still not comparable.

Yeah. Those Iranians are pretty brilliant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_contemporary_Iranian_scientists,_scholars,_and_engineers

And that's definitely not a comprehensive list.

They even left out this guy: http://www.tissueeng.net/lab/people.php?cat=1 and probably several others.

Granted, we can say X, Y and Z happened, this is why Nigeria is underperforming. But Iran has had several pretty bad events in its recent history too.

What bad events?

Anyway, I think they had a little bit of a head start  compared to us if what's written here is to be believed:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_education_in_Iran

Regardless, I agree with your general conclusion.

Sociology, black studies, things of that sort.

Yeah, I see how that can be annoying. I definitely don't see what the point of studying sociology is.

But the statement is about # studying useful things across groups, not comparing # studying useless things.

I don't think either of us has the numbers.

Apparently Iran's brain drain is even worse than Nigeria's: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_drain_in_Iran


Yet they're doing better than Nigeria in almost every conceivable way.

PhysicsQED:

What bad events?

Coup against their democratic gov't by the west to install a western-friendly Shah, Islamic Revolution, being enemies of the US for 30+ years now, war against Iraq.

Anyway, I think they had a little bit of a head start  compared to us if what's written here is to be believed:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_education_in_Iran

Regardless, I agree with your general conclusion.

Perhaps it isn't a fair comparison. They've been wealthier than Nigeria per capita for the past 40+ years, according to Google public data. India and Pakistan might be fairer comparisons.

I don't think either of us has the numbers.

I have general impressions based upon the #s I've seen at the different institutions I've seen and visited (both universities and companies.)

I also have #s for an undergraduate class I'm involved in teaching this term.

So my #s might not be broad and representative, yes. Certainly not as good as an official survey. But better than nothing. And enough to make some basic inferences.

ekt_bear:

Coup against their democratic gov't by the west to install a western-friendly Shah, Islamic Revolution, being enemies of the US for 30+ years now, war against Iraq.

I'm not sure that any of those things affected their ability to produce outstanding academics in a negative way though.  The Islamic Revolution probably increased the number of names on that list on wiki, actually (brain drain to the developed world).

Perhaps it isn't a fair comparison. They've been wealthier than Nigeria per capita for the past 40+ years, according to Google public data. India and Pakistan might be fairer comparisons.

Well India had higher education several decades before Nigeria. I think this education also extended to Pakistanis when they all one country. But yeah, both of these countries outdo Nigeria by an enormous margin in academics.

Nigeria needs to get its act together.

I have general impressions based upon the #s I've seen at the different institutions I've seen and visited (both universities and companies.)

I also have #s for an undergraduate class I'm involved in teaching this term.

So my #s might not be broad and representative, yes. Certainly not as good as an official survey. But better than nothing. And enough to make some basic inferences.

I see. Well I can't argue against what you're seeing in real life. You may be entirely correct about this.

I don't see how coup, revolution and warfare will increase the overall well-being of your country.

There might be a short-term boost in immigrants making an impact abroad, but in the long run it only slows you down.

If you avoid those events, then you get to spend more money at home doing useful things. Things that increase the quality of your talent pipeline.

My mistake. Overlooked the war. That definitely slowed them down.

As for the rest, I don't see the coup or revolution would have really made a difference with regard to this particular area. The Shah was pro-Western so that would have affected development positively as far as technology/science initiatives although their international politics would have been lackey-ish (biased in favor of the West), and indeed it was the previous Shah that revved up Iran's education efforts and attempted to modernize his country. The current regime is not anti-science, except for possibly evolution, and I haven't seen evidence that they aren't basically continuing what the two Shahs achieved, as far as development of their country.

The revolution led to them becoming enemies of the US and thus an international pariah.

This makes it difficult to trade and get investment.

If they were friendly with the US today, their country would be wealthier and better off.

The coup. . . well, arguably the coup led to the revolution.

Yeah, I see your point now. Don't know why I didn't see it earlier. It's true the sanctions and pariah status weakened their economy.

alex_101:

@ OP, below are some more disadvantages that need to be added to your list:

More "desert ninjas" (those nigerians that travel to europe via the sahara desert).
More tribalists (ask nairaland or other nigerian fora)
More fantasy tales emanating from the so called village "empires" of nigerian dungeon that all capitulated at the mere sight of dane-gun-wielding white men.
More groups with ethnic identity crises.
More fictional tales by ijaw with respect to their population, which in reality is not more than a mere 3M.
More/perpetual darkness as there can never be 24/7 electricy.
More clowns to try out their bullet proof charm,,,,ask the OPC guy who is now 6ft below the sea level.
More people to brand themselves as "politically shofishticated", even if such tag is arrived at via treachery.
More ewusa/fulani pigs clinging onto "born to rule" mentality.
More Igbo fools who will keep investing outside their region, thus endagering their lives and those of their family.
More foolish Igbo [/b]parents who have abdicated their responsiblity of telling their children about the events of 1966-1970, thereby making them vulnerable to future dangers.
[b]More Igbo fools (male and female) who keep getting involved in a bound-to-be suicidal intertribal marriage/relationship specifically with the sworn enemies of Biafra.
Above all, the greatest disadvantage of them all is the difficulty in stemming the growing tide of "efulefuism" in Igboland

ahhhhhhhhhhh, what is ur problem with Igbos?

Shouldnt we just do the world a favour and STOP producing more of our dumb kind.

I think we should stop making babies immediately!!!!

talk to the baby factories.

poverty is high, so is the crime rate. A place like nigeria with many ethnic group should not be one country. The only time population is good is if the ethnic group are not many. But in the case of nigeria. Population is nigeria disadvantage.

Nigeria does not have this stadium in Nigeria. if you remove abuja. even with the many years of trillion of dollars of oil money.

The population is a cause to nigeria.

This is Ghana, Yorubas are more than the people of Ghana


[img]http://3.bp..com/_xFPS9xyZgnI/S_Y9tMs-xrI/AAAAAAAAABU/4lC5beU5mQo/s1600/Stadium_tamale2.jpg[/img]





[img]

Look how we can say all the disadvantages of Nigeria but we can hardly say any advantages. Why do we hate ourselves so much?

@Musiwa,

You need serious help, GET IT FAST!

In honesty, I don't think I will say disadvantage because we never put the advantages to work so therefore, we can NOT equate and equal out the disadvantage. Now if there was positive result (pros) , you will compare to negative (cons), but since we have neither, it's error alert, equation results , UNKNOWN.

hehe

Musiwa:

A place like nigeria with many ethnic group should not be one country. The only time population is good is if the ethnic group are not many.

I agree with that.

South-East:

Musiwa:


I agree with that.

obvious to see, you've got the whole Igbo thing sorted. well done.

This giant of Africa mantra based on population is becoming a huge and costly joke. A small country like Jamaica without much natural resources is even producing world class athletes while we can't even tie our shoe-laces properly. I'm really scared for Nigeria because the confusion in the country right now is too much. WE CAN'T MANAGE ANYTHING

Those who will rule the future are the ones who will focus on the solution not the problem. Writing out a list of problems and moaning about it is not the way.




How Can we turn this situation to the nation's advantage?