The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has disclosed that the Federal Government, FG, will continue to partner with relevant bodies to take advantage of Nigeria’s large population for developmental strides.
Speaking at the 6th Annual Population Lecture Series, APLS, with the theme “Governance, People’s Rights and Opportunities”, Ngige said there will be no viable country without people, while stressing that FG is not afraid of the ever-growing population.
Ngige added that the ministry was working hard to increase the work force as well as reduce the unemployment rate of 18.4 per cent which he said is unacceptably high.
Chief Eze Duruiheoma, Chairman, NPopC, said that the relationship between people’s rights and opportunities under good governance was that it created an opportunity for everyone.
Duruiheoma explained that the APLS was an event that focuses on growing population issues, which called for the attention of policy makers.
The Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Awa Kalu, SAN, said that governance was about people taking care of their rights.
Kalu said that good governance means harnessing the lives of people, people’s rights as well as opportunities.
The United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, Acting Country Representative, Dr Eugene Kongnyu, said that governance means processes that produced results that will meet the need of the society.
“The needs of the people would be met when there is high resources, saying if there is limited resources there will be difficulty in meeting people’s needs.” Kongnyu asserted.
According to World Population Review, in 2012 the Nigeria National Bureau of Statistics, estimated the total population of citizens in Nigeria at 166.2 million people. In 2016, it is estimated to have over 178.5 million people although United Nations projections have placed the population as high as 186 million.
When Nigeria declared its independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, the country recorded an estimated 45.2 million people.
The entire population of Nigeria accounts for about 2.35% of the entire earth’s population. This means that about 1 out of every 43 people in the world call Nigeria their home.
Government policies and actions today will increase the likelihood of capturing the potential social and economic benefits from population growth.
How the government harnesses the human resources to the advantage of growth and development will determine the positive forecast.
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