The Director-General of National Population Commission, NPC, Ghaji Bello, has said Nigeria’s population is currently 182 million, with more than half its people under 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 disclosed this 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.
According to him, this is happening at a time the International Monetary Fund, IMF, has 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,”Bello said.
He said plans to hold a census this year were delayed by 2015 elections and a plunge in revenue due to low prices for crude, the country’s main export, and slashed output caused by militant attacks in the Niger Delta. “We’re hopeful the government will soon make a statement for the next exercise,” he said.
