- Proposes discussion on worrying birth rate
Disturbed by explosive birth rate in their region, the 19 northern governors in Nigeria are ready to kick-start conversations about the challenge and the effective ways of addressing same.
Governor Caleb Muftwang of Plateau State, who hinted about the proposed plans, said it has become important and urgent to have measures in place aimed at catering for the education and welfare needs of the children born across the three geo-political zones in the region.
Sharing his thoughts on Channels Television Tuesday morning, Governor Muftwang said current development indicated that the country was sitting on a time bomb waiting to explode.
For him, the lack of infrastructure for human capital development given the youth growth in the Northern region of the country have raised serious concerns about banditry and terrorism being on the rise across the country’s Northern region.
He stated that developments around the ongoing nationwide hunger and #EndBadGovernance protests, showed some of the hoodlums who disrupted the “peaceful” action on the Plateau were elements who came from outside the State.
According to him; “We don’t have an option. At this point, we must take the bull by the horn. I am pretty sure that a lot of the northern elite do not have their children on the streets; they send their children to elite schools locally and internationally.
“If that is the situation, it is not so much about how many children you give birth to, but that we must be able to put measures in place that if you give birth to children, you must take responsibility for those children. It must be a carrot-and-stick strategy that we’ll put in place.”
“I don’t want to say this is the maximum number of children you must have. That is a dialogue that is beyond me but I can assure you that from the Forum of Northern Governors, we are going to initiate this dialogue. We are going to make sure we broaden it to a national consultation.”
Governor Muftwang said it was a duty of leaders and all stakeholders in the region to ensure that religion did not become a tool for its backwardness in terms of socio-economic growth and development
“We must know that religion had a responsibility to society and we must ensure that religion does not become a setback to society. We must then be able to bring religious leaders in tandem with global realities”, he maintained
The Plateau Governor’s remarks are against the backdrop that northern Nigeria is considered the most populated region housing the highest number of poor persons and out-of-school children in the country.
