…Lagos to make fame with Eko island project
Nigeria would by 2050 become the world’s fastest growing population, hitting an estimated 402million to remain one of the top 10 population powers in the world, the US Census Bureau survey report has revealed. It was likewise projected that Lagos may surprise the world in urban recreation and facelift through the multi-billion Eko Atlantic artificial island project pioneered by the Fashiola administration with a corporation, South Energyx.
By the first half of this century (2050), the world comprise 9.4billion people and Nigeria will contribute significantly to this, recording a population slightly behind that of the US which would be 423million, slightly up from its present 308million.
In a survey report scooped by Time Magazine, Nigeria is to be followed by Ethiopia as two countries of the world on track to make the biggest population gains by 2050. Also, Nigeria is estimated in the survey to have 166million people at the moment, while Ethiopia, pegged at 91million, is to hit 278million by 2050 and climb to top 10 for the first time.
Another survey by the United Nations Population Division has tended to support the US Census Board, saying the African continent is expected to lead the global population explosion in an era when the Asia leaders and Russia would be declining while the US would maintain a plateau (stagnate).
The UN division used what it called “high-fertility ratio”, (women begetting more women) as an indication of where the population would continue to explode, saying 18 percent of the world’s population lives in high-fertility countries, most of which are in Africa. The UN however fears that the trend (speedy population growth above other continents) could compound the already dire food crisis in some African countries.
According to Loraine West, IDB project manager, the findings are the result of population estimates and projections of 228 countries.
Experts who reacted on the issue in various interviews with BusinessDay advised the federal and state governments to bend down to food security through several methods of farming. The demographic expert, Innocent Iyalla Harry, managing director of the Rivers State Microfinance Agency (RIMA), said any country that did not take serious cognizance of its population growth pattern would grow into doom.
On his part, Deebii Nwiado, a financial economist and lecturer in Port Harcourt, advised the Federal Government to apply financial engineering to boost agriculture, jobs, wealth and empowerment of the emerging population. He admitted that huge populations could be either good or bad, depending on what successive governments of a concerned nation did about it.
Source: www.businessdayonline.com