Nigeria Population Studies

Basic Unit of Population

• In population census, the basic unit is the resident person with consideration of relationships of coexistence.
• Family, household, and family nucleus are additional basic units.

Current Population of Nigeria

• As of February 14, 2022, Nigeria's population was 214,391,267.
• The 2020 population was estimated at 206,139,589 mid-year.
• Nigeria's population accounts for 2.64% of the world total.

Population Density

• In 2019, the population density was 221 people per Km2 or 571 people per sq mi.
• The calculation was based on a total land area of 910,770 Km2 (351,650 sq. miles).

Contributors to Population Growth

• Major factors include early marriages, high birth rates, and limited access to family planning.
• The birth rate in Nigeria is approximately 37 births per 1,000 people.

Factors of Population Growth

• Birth rate, death rate, immigration, and emigration are fundamental factors.

Optimum Population

• Optimum Population in economics is the population size that maximizes national income when combined with available natural resources.

Natural Increase in Population

• Natural balance is the difference between the number of births and deaths recorded over a period.
• "Surplus" or "increase" indicates births exceeding deaths.

Characteristics of Population

• Population size and density.
• Population dispersion or spatial distribution.
• Age structure
• Natality (birth rate).
• Mortality (death rate).
• Vital index and survivorship curves.
• Biotic Potential
• Life tables:

Importance of Population in National Development

• Population growth is crucial for economic development by providing workforce and influencing investment potentials.

Main Cause of Rapid Population Growth

• Decreasing death rate, especially increase in average human age caused rapid population growth.
• Population growth is determined by rates of birth, death, immigration, and emigration.

Positive Effects of Population Growth

• Population growth can expand tax bases, increase consumer spending, and foster cultural innovations.

Population Pyramid and Population Structure

• "Population structure” refers to patterns in neutral genetic variation resulting from departure from panmixia.

Stages of Population Pyramid

• The five stages are high fluctuating, early expanding, late expanding, low fluctuating, and natural decrease.

Types of Population Pyramids

• Expansive, constrictive, and stationary structures exist based on age-sex distributions.

Population Pyramid Representation

• Population pyramids break down population by gender and age at a given time.
• It consists of two histograms (men on the left, women on the right), with numbers shown horizontally and ages vertically.

Goals and Objectives of Population in Nigeria

• Achieve sustained economic growth, poverty eradication, environmental protection, and quality social services.
• Balance population growth rate with available resources and improve the productive health.

Overview of National Population Policy

• Objectives include reducing poverty, enhancing gender equality, improving education, and curbing population growth.

Population Policies in Nigeria

• Policies aim to reduce fertility to 4 children/family
• Suggest an optimum marriage age of 18 for women and 24 for men
• Advocates pregnancies between 18-35 years and at 2-year intervals.

Factors Stimulating Overpopulation

• Low education in family planning
• Increased birth rate
• Continuing ancestral customs leading to large families.

Types of Population Policies

• Policies can be pro-natalist, anti-natalist, or eugenics-based.

Pro-Natalist Policies

• Pro-natalist policies aim to increase the overall population growth rate.

Population Education

• Population education is a process of developing awareness and understanding of population dynamics.
• It aims to make people more responsible towards managing the population and related issues.

Immediate Objective of Population Policy of 2020

• Policies aim to address unmet needs for contraception.
• Improve healthcare infrastructure, and offer integrated reproductive and child health services.

Population Dynamics, Health, and Economic Implications

• If population growth and per capita GDP growth are entirely independent, higher population growth rates lead to higher economic growth rates.

Population and Economic Growth

• Population growth can enlarge the labor force and increase economic growth.
• A large population provides a large domestic market and encourages competition

Health's Effect on Economic Growth

• Improvements in health can increase GDP, while decreased birth rates also positively affect economic growth.

Population Dynamics and Health Implication

• Population health refers to the health status and health outcomes within a group of people.

Key Pillars of Population Health

• Chronic care management, quality and safety, public health, and health policy.

Promote Health and Wellness

• Improving health and disease outcomes requires intervention at multiple levels.
• Needed health information provision enhanced communication, and peer-to-peer support.

Positive and Negative Health Implications

• Rapid growth leads to uncontrolled urbanization, overcrowding, destitution, crime, pollution, and political turmoil.
• Rapid growth outstrips food production, overuse of arable land.

Increased Demand from Growth

• Increased need for food, water, housing, energy, healthcare, and transportation.
• High consumption leads to ecological degradation, increased conflicts, and higher disaster risk.

Population Growth and Health Problems

• Rapid population growth and density correlates with infections like tuberculosis and social pathologies like schizophrenia.
• Complex relationship between health and fertility; improved health absent family planning increases fertile life span by decreasing mortality/morbidity.

Population Structure and Population Movement

• Population movement or migration involves the movement of individuals/genes, contributing to gene flow.

Population Structure Definition

• Pattern of genetic variation within and between subpopulations.

How Migration Affects Population Structure

• Skilled worker migration leads to economic growth, better education, reduces population density, and decreases birth rates.