The Nigerian population: A treasure for national development or an unsurmountable national challenge

Abstract

Nigeria is the most populous black nation in the world. It is equally one of the Less Developed Countries (LDCs) with very high population. Population growth is a very important element and a challenge in the development process in LDCs. The population of Nigeria is expected to continue to grow up to 239 million by 2025 and 440 million by 2050, thereby ranking it to 4th position among countries of the World with high population. This without doubt will place Nigeria in a position of major player in the global system, and more importantly in the African region. It is against this background that this study examines Nigeria’s population composition by poising the following questions; will Nigeria’s present and future population structure be a benefit or a burden? How can Nigeria’s relative share of working-age composition (15- 64) and dependents (under 15 and 65 and over) contribute to long term economic growth and development of the country? The findings of the study reveals that population growth is a critical factor in the development of any economy, providing workforce for production of goods and services to boost economic development and a critical determinant of the potentials of a country’s investment. The study findings also show that continuous population growth militates against economic growth through inducement of poverty, falling medical care/services and environmental degradation, worsen resource scarcity in areas where a large proportion of the population already relies on natural resource-based livelihoods. The study argued that population increase is not a problem in itself to any nation, and that there are some impeding factors associated with population growth such as corruption, inadequate planning, inappropriate implementation of development plans, poor budget/implementation and complacency in developing human capital. These are issues that the Nigerian state since independence have continued to battle with which has invariably made it a seemingly failed state. The study concludes that how much any country can benefit from its population size is dependent on the quality of human capital. Based on the findings, the study recommends economic diversification, government empowerment of Small and Medium scale Enterprises, paying attention to human capital development and target-oriented education.