nigerians

Director-General of Nigeria’s National Population Commission, Ghaji Bello has said the nation’s current  population is 182 million.  Bello who was speaking in Abuja stated that the 140 million figure obtained from the national census conducted 10 years ago was weighed against the rising life expectancy and  falling infant mortality rate to arrive at the current estimates.

He further said that the current population of 182 million was arrived at by using an annual growth rate of 3.5 percent.He stated that Nigeria was experiencing a population surge with persons under 14 years making up above 40% of her citizens.

Talking about Nigeria having a high youthful population, he contended: “The implication is that they are assets, they are the future of our country, but they are also liabilities.  We need to know how to plan for their transition from youths to the next category.“It has implications for education, health and security, particularly in our environment where you have a lot of unemployment.”

Bello also said the 10-yearly census which should have held this year was put on hold due to a decline in revenue caused by low crude prices and militant operations in the Niger Delta. “We’re hopeful the government will soon make a statement for the next exercise,” he said.