I could remember the early 2000s when some special belts were in circulation in the country. These belts became popular for stopping a working wristwatch whenever the pendant of the belt is placed on a watch. With that, rumors circulated that the belts were imported from China. The story was that the Chinese government had made the belt and distributed it freely to willing takers as a population control measure. It was reportedly meant to reduce the sperm count and thus curb the rapidly increasing population.
I never verified the story, but the belief is that there is an iota of truth in every rumor. So, if the rumor was true, how has birth/population control work for China? Undoubtedly, China is one of the biggest economies in the world right now. Did the rumored population control they embarked on back then have any sort of effect in getting them to where they are today? In the face of a worsening global economy, is population control the answer?
I'll start from the home front. According to verified data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Northern Nigeria is the most impoverished part of the country. The two obvious reasons for their predicaments are illiteracy and "overpopulation". While their struggles with education and its adverse effects are well documented, overpopulation as a reason for their impoverishment is not that clear-cut.
Factors determining overpopulation range from population density, resource availability and economic conditions. The last two factors are the reasons why I tag overpopulation as one of the leading reasons for their struggles. Due to traditional and religious beliefs, most illiterate northern men marry more than one wife. Their cultural belief of the Almajiris only worsens the situation as it emboldens poor men to go on and have more kids than they could cater for.
As of right now, there are millions of people over there with no access to clean water and other important resources. Also, despite housing a serious proportion of Nigerians the IGR of Northern states shows that their economy is teetering towards crisis. In short, the available resources and economic conditions of the region cannot sustain their rapidly increasing population. If care is not taken, their economy will be on life support.
If we are to paint this reality on the global stage, overpopulation will ruin the world. The government knows this, they just have to find a way to educate the masses, especially the illiterate ones to curb the rate at which they churn out babies. I mean, it drives me crazy whenever I go around and see parents whose monthly income is less than $100 (about #160k) birthing as many as four kids. How would they cater to those kids?
My take is simple, as long as the government won't pull dangerous stunts to cut down the population size, encouraging families in the right way as to the amount of kids they can birth is good. The fear is that in the next years, there may be less labor force. However, in a country like mine where resources are already strained and opportunities are at a premium, having fewer kids now will even out in the future, making the resources, opportunity and the populace a matching set.
