President Muhammadu Buhari has decried the high rate of fertility plaguing the country.
The president spoke in Abuja where he launched the Revised National Policy on Population for Sustainable Development.
“The policy emphasizes the urgency to address Nigeria’s sustained high fertility rate, through expanding access to modern family planning, counselling and commodities as well as promote births spacing,” Buhari said.
This will enable Nigeria to achieve rapid fertility control, improve the health of women, adolescents, new born and children, and other population groups.”
He explained that Nigeria’s population is the largest in Africa and seventh globally made up most of youths with 72 percent of them being below 30 while half of the female population are in their reproductive years (15-49 years).
“These levels have implications for sustained population growth and narrowed prospects to achieving population management, facilitating sufficient demographic transition, harnessing our demographic endowment and eventually realizing sustainable development.”
He maintained that the data accumulated during the upcoming census would help on implementing the new policy.
The Chairman, National Population Commission, Nasir Isa Kwarra, also advised Nigerians to embrace the noble ideals of planned parenthood and healthy reproductive behaviors enunciated in the policy.
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