Population of Nigeria becoming liability, may explode, Obasanjo warns

Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo has issued a warning against population explosion in the nation.

Obasanjo disclosed that population of Nigeria was becoming a liability because of its improper management, stating that, except something urgent was done; Nigeria might be declared the third largest nation in 2050.

He called for a population management, despite the geometric population explosion without a corresponding socio-economic growth; a circumstance which he stated had hindered growth in the country.

The former President spoke in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, during a mentoring session with students of some selected schools across the nation titled, “raising the next wave of innovative leaders through entrepreneurship.”

He said, “We have moved from 120 million to over 200 million. We have added the population of France to our population and if we continue the way we are going, by the year 2050, we will be third largest country in the world.

“If we still continue, by the year 3000, we would be the largest country in the world. What are we going to do to handle that? How are we going to handle that population? If we do not start getting it right now, we will not get it right by the year 2030.

“The population by itself may not be a liability if we do what we have to do. But if we don’t do what we have to do, which we are not doing now, population will be a liability. What we need to do is education about population management.”

Obasanjo, however, declared that population could either be an asset or a liability.

As indicated by him, population by itself may not be a liability if we do what we have to do, but if we did not do what we need to do which we are not doing now; the population will be a liability.

He said, “What we need to do is education about population management. Some people don’t like saying family planning, but whatever you do, you must manage your population to the benefit of all that are living within your nation.”