Nigerians’ high fertility rate The myth, the realities
Nigeria is ranked 13th among the countries with high total fertility
rate (TFR), due to the prevalent high-order multiple births in the
country. In this report, EMMANUEL ADENIYI examines the myth and
realities behind the issue, submitting that poor attitude of Nigerians
to birth control needs to be addressed.
WHEN she gave birth to quintuplets in 2011 at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Mrs Olayemi Shofunlayo was probably not expecting that high number of children. Though the ultrasound result had shown that she was carrying four babies, her surprise knew no bound the moment she realised that three girls and two boys were the newest addition to her family of three comprising herself, her husband and her first child.
Also last year, Bimbo Ayelabola, a Nigerian mother, became the centre of attraction when she delivered five children in Britain and decided not to return to Nigeria because of her fear that leaving Britain for Nigeria would leave her homeless.”
Mrs Precious Donatus’ chain delivery is, however, stunning. According to her she delivered seven babies within 11 months in Aguda, Surulere, Lagos. According to a report, Mrs Donatus had earlier given birth to her first child in 2009 after 11 years of childlessness, though the baby died shortly after delivery. Ten months later, she conceived and delivered seven babies between 2009 and 2011 successively.
Just recently, the Minister of State for Health, Dr Muhammed Pate, expressed fear about the high fertility rate among Nigerians. He said that Nigeria needed to review its population policy, noting that by 2050 Nigeria would become one of the most populous countries in the world.
“We know we have a fertility rate that is high and higher than many other countries of about similar level of development of 5.7, with huge regional differences: North-West and North-East having high total fertility rates,” he noted.
In the CIA World Factbook (2012) profiling total fertility rate (TFR), the expected number of children born per woman in her child-bearing years, in 222 countries across the world, Nigeria currently occupies the 13th position with a TFR of (5.38) while Niger, Uganda, Mali, Somalia and Burundi occupy the top five positions with TFRs of 7.52, 6.65, 6.35, 6.25 and 6.08 respectively. The Eastern European countries have less than one total fertility rate, thus occupying the bottom of the chart.
Though campaigns for birth control have been on in Nigeria for long, due to prevalent multiple births in the country, it was, however, discovered that most Nigerians prefer large families to having relatively small households. This, it was learnt, accounts for their aversion to methods of births control, such as the use of contraceptives, family planning and pregnancy-preventing drugs.
Mrs Eunice Olubunmi, a mother of four and house wife in Lagos, told Sunday Tribune that her religious convictions would not allow her to use contraceptives when having sex. She disclosed that sex was a mere punishment when contraceptives were used, noting that she would still have more children because they were gifts from God.
Speaking to Sunday Tribune on the 5.38 total fertility rate of Nigerians, an obstetrician at Hope Hospital, Ibadan, Dr Adigun Babatunde, said high TFR among Nigerians did not indicate they were more fertile than other people across the globe, but rather an “indication of Nigerians’ poor attitude towards birth control methods.
“Ordinarily when there is an intercourse between a man and woman, and there is no disease in any one of them, there will be pregnancy, which could lead to the birth of either of one or more babies. It is a natural phenomenon that applies anywhere in the world.”
However, in a research work carried out in 2007 in Abakaliki, Eboyin State, by the department of
Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ebonyi State University, it was discovered that women in the state often have higher-order multiple births, though attended by increased obstetric and prenatal complications.
According to the report, “There were 21 triplet births and one quadruplet delivery. Mothers with higher-order multiple pregnancies had more antenatal admissions for preterm uterine contractions and had more preterm deliveries. Stillbirth was recorded in 12.7 per cent of the triplets, with 25.5 per cent involving triplets I, II and III, who suffered birth asphyxia. The perinatal mortality rate was 276 per 1,000.”
A similar report published by the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology profiling multiple births in Hausa women between 1974 and 1978, reveals that the incidence of multiple births among the women is equally high. The report states that “hospital maternity records for 5750 women delivering in 1974-1978 revealed 228 sets of twins and 12 sets of triplets, for a twinning rate of 39.7/1000 births, a triplet rate of 2.1/1000 births and a multiple birth rate of 41.7/1000; about 4 times the rate in Western countries.”
Among the Yoruba tribe, it is said that at least a birth rate of 45 twins per 1000 live births is often recorded. In the Niger Delta, especially among the Izon (Ijaw) people, polygamy and multiple births are the order of the day.
Of concern to government, however, is the high fertility rate among Nigerians. The rate, which has largely been blamed on the inability of Nigerians to embrace family planning and practise safe sex, is a major bugbear to government in view of its ripple effect on the country’s population.
Recently, the Chairman, National Population Commission (NPC), Samu’ila Danko Makama, described the nation’s population as a potent threat to the future of the nation’s economy, unless well managed by the Federal Government.
According to him population growth in the country represents an annual population growth rate of 3.2 per cent or 5.6 million people per annum, stating that the country’s population rose from 140,431,790 during the last headcount five years ago to 167,912,561. He noted that Nigeria’s population would hit 221,392,163 by July 1, 2020.
To a demographist, Mr Segun Okuniyi, Nigeria’s population needs to be controlled, because it could have an adverse effect on the nation’s economy. “Nigeria is currently experiencing population explosion, due to high rate of uncontrolled childbirths among Nigerians, lack of family planning and girl-child education.
“When your population is growing astronomically, and there is no growth in economy, well-being of people, yet you have dearth of housing and deplorable infrastructure, it is going to lead to a crisis in that country. We are growing up, but there is shortage of housing in the country, unemployment issue has not been addressed, per capita income of Nigerians is abysmally low, all these can trigger off crisis in a country.
“Our population ought to be a blessing to us. Look at China, the most populous nation in the world; it has been able to harness its human resources to create wealth for the nation and its people. If China could do that, Nigeria’s population is still a far cry from that of China; we could actually do something to harness the human
resources we have here for the overall development of the country,” he noted.
When asked whether multiple births could be attributed to cultural or dietary practices prevalent in some communities or the presence of certain genes in some Nigerians, a gynaecologist at Imole Ayo Memorial Hospital, Oshogbo, Osun State, Dr John Adeleye, said it was medically unfounded that special genes were present in Nigerians, thus making them to procreate easily, adding that multiple births noticed among some women in the country happened naturally.
‘‘It is medically proven that multiple birth results from the ovulation of multiple eggs. It is also possible for fertilised eggs in a woman’s ovary to split into two, three, four or more than that. This will result in their giving birth to twins, triplets, quadruplets and so on. Some drugs used in treating infertility could also cause multiple births.
“Though it has been said that eating certain foods or vegetables could lead to multiple births, this however, is not confirmed medically. In Igboora, it is claimed that eating yam or okra soup could make one to have twins; this to me is medically unproven.
“I will say this happens because of the reproductive anatomy and physiology of the people there, not as a result of any special food consumed by them. If such food actually exists, they could only serve as a booster for fast ovulation of eggs in women.
“It is advisable for Nigerians to control their child births. Do not give birth to a child you can’t cater for.
People should visit family planning center to obtain necessary information on Planned Parenthood and avoid having unwanted pregnancies. When a woman has more than her ovary can carry, this often results in maternal mortality, and Nigeria is not faring better in this area,’’ he added.
A development expert, George Emeka Chukwuma, told Sunday Tribune that the size of a nation, in terms of its population is irrelevant. What matters, according to him, is the ability to turn either a nation’s vast or small population into a tool for engendering development.
His view supports China’s recent review of its one-child-per-family policy, in order to checkmate future drop in the population of the nation’s working class.
“History of developed economies across the globe has shown that high or low population could be a blessing or a curse. While China, India, U.S and Brazil are driving their economies through the instrumentality of their vast population, Japan, Britain with their low population are similarly doing same. Indonesia, on the other hand, is highly populated, but remains a relatively poor nation.
“It sounds illogical to hinge a nation’s backwardness on the vastness of its population. What should drive development should not turn out to be a source of poverty. Nigeria should take a cue from China, US and other highly populated countries and learn from how they turned their vast human resource into wealth.
“Ultimately, I am not saying population should not be controlled, because of other negative factors associated with it, but the higher number of people in a country,
the faster the lever of development is pulled up,” he remarked.
Source Nigeria tribune
