Overpopulation: FG only encouraging child spacing – Finance Minister
Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed has dismissed reports that the Federal Government would place a cap on the number of children women could have.
Ahmed had been quoted as saying the government would come up with a policy that would restrict mothers from having more than a certain number of children.
The minister, however, said on Wednesday that the government was only encouraging child spacing among families in the country.
“Exponential population growth was identified as a challenge in the ERGP, we never said the Federal government will place a cap on the number of childbirths. The government has been engaging traditional and religious leaders to educate their members on child spacing so they have the numbers we can adequately manage,” she said.
The federal government has been engaging critical stakeholders like traditional and religious leaders to advise their members on child spacing.
We never said we are placing a cap on childbirth.
What is child spacing?
This is a healthy practice of waiting between pregnancies. pic.twitter.com/fs0kfPzElw
— Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed (@ZShamsuna) October 24, 2018
Overpopulation has been a cause for concern as Nigeria currently boasts almost 200 million people, with projections saying the figure could double by the year 2050.
