The Chairman, Chidcon Medical Centre, Owerri, Prof (Dr) Philip Njemanze, has faulted the nation’s population policy.
He said the policy “was ill conceived to implement population control with contraceptives which are harmful to the health of women”
Njemanze, an Academician of the International Academy of Astronautics, a UNESCO body on space research, stated that “Estrogen derivatives are the main active ingredients and causes cancer, blood clots leading to heart attacks, strokes and deep venous thrombosis.
“They will kill the Unborn Nigerian immediately and the mother will die agonising slowly” he said.
According to him “This will result to every rising maternal mortality rate in Nigeria. The MMR in Nigeria is 814 per 100,000 live births. This rate could quadruple with mass use of contraception in Nigeria. The global MMR was 152 deaths per 100,000 live births much lower than in Nigeria.
The neuroscientist added that “This population policy is the greatest threat to the health of Nigerian women. This could be prevented by implementing Natural Family Planning which is more effective and has no debilitating health effects.
He further noted that “On the overall population control policy, this strategy is not evidence based.
“Outright, the reduction in population is contraproductive to economic development.
“Population is the main engine driving economic growth worldwide. The most important index is population density. Nigeria in 2020 was at 240 persons be sq Km.
“This is considered below the threshold for real economic development. In contrast Singapore is at 8000 persons per square Km, Hong Kong at 6690 persons per square km.
He continued “In Lagos we have a population density of 6,871 persons per square km which accounts for 26.7% of Nigeria’s total GDP and more than 50% of non-oil GDP. So if we could replicate Lagos in the other six geopolitical zones by population density we could transform into a G20 economy in less than 10 years. We can only get there through population growth not depopulation. The attempt by detractors of Nigeria to stem the tide of population growth has become urgent because Nigeria is approaching the critical 300 people per square kilometer threshold for economic transformation.
“We must ignore this push and actively promote population growth through social justice system of equity of opportunity. We must invest in people through health and education.
“We must fight corruption that rubs us of development and the future of our youth. The International Genocidal policy of population control is hypocritical.
“The West open their borders for brain drain from Africa and elsewhere. All their borders are open for workforce immigration. If population was bad why then the Open border policy in Europe and the United States. Nigerian Council on Population should focus on measures for use of positive population growth rather than depopulation.
“Natural Family Planning (NFP) should be adopted in schools and public establishments. NFP makes sense for the health of women and as a rational policy for national development.
