A rapidly and uncontrollable population growth in any country of the world today can either contribute to that nation's national economic strength and development or it can be an easy tool for a self-destructive national crises for that nation. Every new born child that comes into this human universe would need daily food intake, clothing, housing, education, transportation, health care, parental guidance, love and attention in order to survive and grow into an adult. Every adult member of the society or a nation will need the following things, such as, food, clothing, shelter, transportation, medical care, employment or job, personal savings and a decent retirement to also survive as an adult and then becomes a productive member of that nation until death occurs.
Nigeria's population stands at about 167 million citizens and residents in 2013. This population is growing very rapidly and at an alarming rate of 3.2% annually or about 5.2 million new Nigerian babies are born every year. If this population is not checked or controlled, demographers predicted that Nigeria's population will hit 400 million persons by 2040 and making Nigeria to be the third most populous nation in the world. The national population patterns in Nigeria show that majority of Nigerians are youths or young people. Today in Nigeria, the average life expectancy is about 46 years, the birth rate of this nation is higher than its death rate, infant mortality rate is also high and the rural to urban migration is growing and making the major cities of Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and others to be crowded with young Nigerians from all walks of life who are looking for a way out of life or a way to survive.
The biggest concerns or the problems that are associated with the rapidly growing Nigeria's population are the facts that, jobs, housing, education, health care, national infrastructure, social services and national security are not also growing rapidly or side by side with this uncontrollable population growth in Nigeria today. The other developing countries of Asia and South America have already addressed their rapidly growing populations by enacting the national birth control laws in their own countries decades ago to control and to mange their own populations. China as a nation stands out as a country that saw the national threats and implications that her rapidly growing population posed on her national development in the 1970s. In 1978, China enacted a national law that was known at that time as the "One Couple, One Child Law" to control her population growth. This law was a successful story in China today that is now the world's second biggest and the fastest growing economy. China recently abolished her national birth control law because her national economy needs more population to keep it afloat and globally competitive.
The United Nations few years ago issued a stern warning to the nations of the sub-saharan Africa including Nigeria to do something immediately about their uncontrollable national population growths that make that part of the world to be experiencing the fastest population growths in the entire human universe today. If the Nigerian government refuses to enact a national birth control law because of national politics, religious and cultural beliefs that will allow her to control her population growth effectively in this decade, then Nigeria as a country may become the biggest footprint of the urban and rural poverty in this 21st century human world and this huge population will become self-destructive to themselves in particular and to the whole nation in general.
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