The Director-General of National Population Commission, NPC, Ghaji
Bello, has revealed that Nigeria’s population was currently 182 million.
He said half of its people is less than 30 years of age.
According to him, this puts a severe strain on a nation, with its
slowing economy and declining revenue to provide enough schools and
health facilities.
Bello, who made this revelation in Abuja, said the latest estimate
was based on the population of 140 million recorded in the last census a
decade ago, using an annual growth rate of 3.5 percent weighed against
other variables such as rising life expectancy and a declining infant
mortality rate.
He said Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, was witnessing a
growing youth bulge, with those under 14 years accounting for more than
40 percent of its citizens.
He lamented that this was happening at a time the International
Monetary Fund, IMF, had predicted that the nation’s gross domestic
product will shrink 1.7 percent this year, the first full-year
contraction in more than two decades.
“The implication is that they are assets, they are the future of our
country, but they are also liabilities. We need to know how to plan for
their transition from youths to the next category.
‘’It has implications for education, health and security,
particularly in our environment where you have a lot of unemployment,’’
he added.
“We’re hopeful the government will soon make a statement for the next exercise,” he said.
Meanwhile, the senate had recently asked the Federal Government to conduct census in 2018.
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