The Paradox of Population Growth in National Development. 41st Inaugural Lecture of the University of Abuja, Nigeria.
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Date
2023-06-01
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Abstract
The 41st inaugural lecture of University of Abuja, Nigeria was delivered by Prof. Rhoda Mundi, Professor of Geography. The lecture focuses on the paradox of population growth in national development, drawing a lot from inaugural lecturer’s lifelong research and experiences. The lecture is divided into sections as follows: Introduction, Definition of terms and conceptual clarifications, History of world population growth, The debate on Population growth, Theories on population and development interrelations, Population growth in Nigeria, Reasons for high, population growth, Implication of Nigeria's high population growth, Population growth and development in Nigeria, Population Policies, and Challenges to Nigeria's Development efforts, Recommendations, The lecture conclusions that people are resources, creators and managers of wealth especially when developed through education, training and knowledge transfer and when healthy. Nigeria's large population is as asset however, the high population growth is likely to be detrimental in the short and medium term because of inadequate investment in it particularly through bad governance. If properly developed and kept healthy, the population in the longer run would result in demographic dividends as the expansive young people become productive adults. This is the paradox of population growth in National Development.