Rapid Population Growth as a Problem of Humanresources...

RAPID POPULATION GROWTH IS ONE OF THE PROBLEMS OF HUMAN RESOURCE UTILIZATION IN NIGERIA. WHAT CAN BE DONE TO REDUCE THIS PROBLEM? A MANPOWER ECONOMICS ASSIGNMENT Akinrodoye Adunola INTRODUCTION Population can be defined as the number of people living in any defined area at any given time. Hence the population of Nigeria consists of all the people who live in the country at any given time (Dictionary of Economics, 1998; Ojo, 1997). Population however cannot be treated in isolation without a serious consideration for the characteristics (demographic distribution) of the population which is a pre-requisite for an effective and efficient manpower planning which will enhance human resource development and of course†¦show more content†¦Between 1911 and 1930, Nigeria population growth was said to be modest with a growth rate of 1.3% which increased from 19million to 30 million within the period. In 1952/53the nation population was put at 30.4 million excluding the trust territory of Southern Cameroon. This indicates an annual growth rate of 0.1% and with an improvement in medical infrastructure with the usual fertility trend; it was about 2% in the 1960s.The Nigeria population growth rate achieve the 3% point between 1963 and 1973 and was projected to reach 4% between 1983 and 1993 which was proved to be overestimated by 1993 census. The 1993 census was put at 88.5million with an estimated growth rate of 2.5% which characterized the entire region of Nigeria. The 2006 population census put the nation population at 140million with an estimated growth rate of about 3% (Ojo, 1997; Fajana, 2000). TABLE 1: NIGERIA SOCIAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC INDICATORS, 1960-2025 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2025 Total population (1000 inhabitants) 42305 56581 78430 108542 147709 285823 Average rate of Population growth (%) 2.5 3.0 3.3 3.3 3.1 2.7 Urbanization rate (%) 14.4 20.0 27.1 35.2 43.3 61.6 Fertility rate 6.82 6.90 6.90 6.90 5.94 3.54 Infant Mortality (%) 194 146 124 105 87 48 Age Structure (%) *0-14 years 45.4 46.3 46.5 47.4 46.0 37.6 *15-64 years 52.4 51.3 51.0 50.1 51.3 58.9 * Over