Nigeria is without a doubt growing, but are these increases in population good for the overall well being of the country?
Because of Nigeria's rapidly growing NIR, and increasing life expectancy of it's people, you can clearly see that it's population is not going to drop any time soon. It is currently in stage two of the demographic transition model, and it doesn't appear that it will reach stage three any time soon due to the rapid increase in Nigeria's population, and the government's failures to hinder this growth. When looking at Nigeria's population pyramid, you see that the biggest percentage of Nigeria's population is under the age of 15. The mean age of in Nigeria is actually around 17, further exemplifying the exorbitant amounts of youth in Nigeria. This means that in the next 4-8 years, the majority of Nigeria's population will be at reproductive age, and will start having babies. The total fertility rate of women in Nigeria is about 5, meaning for every woman in her childbearing years, around 5 children will be born. If all of the people reaching their reproductive years have around 5 children, a huge boom will be created, not just doubling, but even possibly tripling Nigeria's already ginormous population. All of these factors need to be studied and addressed immediately, because if this increase in population was to happen, not only would Nigeria's economy be effected negatively due to lack of jobs, Nigeria's ecosystem will be extensively depleted of it's resources, causing there to be not enough food for to many people. Not to mention, the amount of pollution in Nigeria would increase exponentially as well, further damaging Nigerian's already poor quality of life. The only way this outcome can be stopped is through the education of women, and men alike. Without the knowledge of the responsibilities, inhibitors, and preventions of childbirth, birth rates will continue to grow at rapid rates, but with proper information, stability in population growth can ultimately be reached.