A fresh warning by the National Population Commission that the prolonged closure of schools occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic may lead to more girls dropping out of school, getting married and having children should be a major source of concern for any serious government.
Unfortunately, about 11 northern states have yet to domesticate the Child Rights Act despite its obvious benefits for children which include being unable to get married till the age of 18 as girls stay longer in school. The states that have failed to pass the child rights law are Bauchi, Yobe, Kano, Sokoto, Adamawa, Borno, Zamfara, Gombe, Katsina, Kebbi, and Jigawa. Little wonder these are the states with the highest cases of child marriage and fertility rates. They are also the poorest.
Change should start from leadership. A motion moved by a federal lawmaker in the Eighth National Assembly to implement effective population management policy unfortunately degenerated into a religious debate and failed to achieve its intended outcome. Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s most conservative countries, has placed a ban on marriage of persons below the age of 18. That is the way to go.
The Central Bank of Nigeria is worried that the country’s population is growing faster than its GDP. The CBN Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, Mr. Joseph Nnana, said, “All things equal, we will have between 2.8 and three per cent GDP growth for 2019. However, three per cent GDP growth rate for Nigeria is inadequate when our population growth rate is 3.2 per cent. So, the capital growth rate is slightly negative.