The Chairman of the National Population Commission, NPC, Nasir Isa Kwarra, has called for urgent strategic investments in healthcare, education, climate resilience and data-driven policies.
Mr Kwarra made the call during the 13th Annual International Conference of the Population Association of Nigeria on Monday in Abuja,
in partnership with development Research and Promotion Center, dRPC, and others.
According to Mr Kwarra,the investments will mitigate the challenges posed by Nigeria’s rapidly growing population.
He said that without deliberate policy interventions, the country’s demographic expansion could exacerbate social and economic inequalities.
“The fundamental question before us is whether our population growth will become a driver of economic progress or deepen existing socioeconomic disparities,” he said.
The NPC chairman highlighted maternal and child health as a pressing concern, noting that Nigeria still records one of the highest maternal mortality rates globally.
Citing the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, NDHS, 2018, he said that the maternal mortality rate had declined from 576 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2013 to 512 per 100,000 in 2018.
He called for the adoption of climate resilience strategies to safeguard the country’s natural resources and promote sustainable development.
Mr Kwarra also addressed family planning and reproductive health choices, noting that Nigeria’s contraceptive prevalence rate, CPR, among married women stands at just 20 per cent.
He said that rural areas experienced lower contraceptive usage of 5.6 per cent compared to urban areas, 3.9 per cent, leading to higher birth rates and increasing the strain on the nation’s health system.
The rapid expansion of Nigerian cities due to rural-to-urban and urban-to-urban migration is another major concern, according to the NPC chairman.
He said that cities like Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna were experiencing overcrowding, inadequate housing, and limited access to essential services such as water, electricity, and healthcare.
“Unplanned urbanisation is leading to the proliferation of informal settlements, environmental degradation, and a decline in the quality of life.
“We must integrate smart urban planning strategies and invest in modern infrastructure to support our growing cities,” he said.
To effectively address Nigeria’s demographic challenges, Mr Kwarra stressed the need for accurate and reliable data to inform policy decisions.
He emphasised that demographic insights should guide investments in education, job creation, and public services to ensure inclusive growth.
“With one of the youngest populations in the world, Nigeria’s youth represent a powerful force for innovation and economic transformation.
“However, without adequate education, employment, and entrepreneurship opportunities, this potential could turn into a crisis,” he said.
Speaking earlier during a panel discussion, the dRPC’s project director, Dr. Stanley Ukpai, stressed the importance of getting qualitative population, saying that the data would have direct impact on national development.
According to him, for Nigeria to attain its full demographic dividends, stakeholders must work to promote good governance, accountability, and investment in human capital as necessary for national reawakening.
He said: “If we’re able to get qualitative population, it would impact on our national development. The human capital development index predicts that every child has only 36 percent of achieving their full potential.
“So, given the current landscape and the population dynamics, we have to start thinking about how we can make our population more productive by encouraging more productive and qualitative populations with all of the key issues.”
Mr Okpai added that the first step is to know the number of our population so as to help in determining indices for resource allocation.
