The Role of Government in Family Planning!!!

There was a time I was on a trip and while on the bus, I saw a woman with 5 little kids struggling to attend to each of them; when one was crying, the other would be busy shouting and disturbing her mother for snacks to munch on and when it was time to alight, she struggled with them including her bags. I wondered how she coped with them, and not only that, I could see how poor she was through her dress and the bad odour I kept perceiving from her and the kids, plus, she was dirty.

There we have those who do not stop giving birth to children, bringing them into the world and then scattering them around relatives/friends to help train and cater for them because they can't handle them in the aspect of education and provide them with the necessary resources to help them become successful.

I have seen lots of families who do not practice family planning but go with the flow, claiming that the Bible has commanded that we multiply and replenish the earth. Does that mean children should be made to suffer because of parents' ignorance of how to control their birth and only have the ones they can afford to train? This is one reason we see children being scattered everywhere with no place to sleep or that they are made to start working at a very young age to provide for the family just because the parents cannot take up the responsibility, in the end, some join bad gangs.

Just like the woman above, I am sure she would be finding it hard to give the kids quality treatment and it is why these children are not contented and would be seen in public begging and doing all sorts of bad things, especially indulging in crimes because they want to survive, and that their parents do not care about them.

I was talking with an aunt some years back. We were discussing family planning and how parents should make sure they only give birth to children they can take care of. She mentioned that there were two that their parents had and while in the University, she needed money, her father refused and the only question she asked him was "Why did you give birth to me if you cannot take care of me?" After she cuts the call, she sees an alert from the dad and knows he feels sad at such a question which she apologised to him later.

This is so unfair because no child should be born into a world where there is no adequate plan on how to nurture and take care of them. In a country like Nigeria where the poverty rate is alarming, the ones who do not practice family planning are the poor or average individuals who believe that more children equals more enjoyment and reward, in the sense that when they give birth to more than 5 children, they will know how to send them out to look for jobs while they are being forced and trained to take up responsibilities at a younger age.

Most of the rich ones wouldn't. At least I have seen more than 70% of the rich who understand family planning and only go with 2 or 3 kids just so that they can give them the proper and adequate care they need, and that, they would be able to monitor their movements and activities.

Whether government should be involved in regulating the number of children a family should or can have is a controversial issue here and this can only be done in countries where they are facing overpopulation and scarcity of resources, in this case, Nigeria.

Nigeria is an overpopulated country and like I said, poverty is more rampant, but families will continue to give birth without proper knowledge, education and understanding. I believe this policy, if taken seriously would help manage population growth and ensure sustainable development. I believe that when population growth is controlled, there will be a better allocation of resources and the living standards of everyone will be improved. Children won't have to come to the world to suffer but given adequate care.

Also, having the families especially those who are ignorant and lack education on what family planning is and its importance should be what the government should focus on by employing professionals who would enlighten and educate them properly, followed by laying strong measures on reducing the population in the country through the regulation of the number of children a family can have.

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