By Abigail Philip David
Dr. Ejike Oji, Chairman of the Association for the Advancement of Family Planning in Nigeria, has identified family planning as a critical solution to tackling Nigeria’s widespread poverty.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Abuja, Dr. Oji emphasized that adopting family planning could significantly improve living standards across the country.
“Nigeria is currently among the nations struggling with multidimensional poverty,” he stated. “This means that many households lack not only financial resources but also access to quality healthcare, food, clean water, and education.”
Dr. Oji expressed confidence that proper family planning could help reduce poverty by enabling parents to better provide for their families. He explained that when families plan childbirth and space their children effectively, they can more easily meet their children’s basic needs and improve their overall well-being.
He also linked the rise in insurgency and insecurity in Nigeria to inadequate family planning. According to him, children born without proper planning are more vulnerable to becoming involved in criminal activities. He further claimed that many insurgents and terrorists in the country were products of unplanned births.
Dr. Oji urged all levels of government to develop and implement policies that promote family planning nationwide, stressing its importance in improving the country’s socio-economic conditions.
According to the National Multidimensional Poverty Index released by the National Bureau of Statistics, over 133 million Nigerians—more than 60% of the population—are classified as multi-dimensionally poor. This classification means they lack at least one essential need for survival, such as access to quality healthcare, proper education, decent living standards, or gainful employment.
