Birth control policy: Government proposes two kids per woman

The Federal Government is mulling a birth control policy where the number of children per woman is to be pegged at two to check the prevalent poverty and unemployment in the country.

Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who disclosed this yesterday during a discussion on Sustainable Economic Opportunities: Ending the Vicious Cycle at the 2018 Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, noted that the move was in realisation of the dangers posed by uncontrolled population growth.

She said government was consulting religious and traditional leaders nationwide on the issue after which a policy would be formulated.

“We must find out ways to engage our youths to be active and ensure that transportation is effective, available and reasonably priced,” the minister stated.

Ahmed, who harped on the need to support the informal sector of the economy to absorb the current 40 per cent unemployment figure, gave the assurance that governance would halt on account of the coming elections.

Besides, she said the polls would not endanger the 2020 realisation of the Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) target, adding that the Federal Government was committed.

Her words: “For the past four weeks or so, we have been talking to investors and we are sending out a message that the president has asked some of us to just keep our eyes on delivering on the ERGP and the set goals.

“The president has directed that we should not allow ourselves to be distracted by the elections. So, there are few of us that are simply working towards 2020 which is the life of the ERGP, and also very soon, we are going to start developing.”

She promised that the country would harness the potential of its large and energetic youth population as well as their entrepreneurial zeal.

Besides, the minister said government was also partnering with small-scale businesses to access finance, create the enabling environment, improve infrastructure and make cost of transportation reasonably low.