Yesterday, it was reported that the Federal Government had plans to limit the number of children each mother can have.

According to the Minister of Finance who disclosed this, Zainab Ahmed, the Federal Government has been in discussions with traditional rulers to get their support on the matter, as it is important in achieving its Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

We applaud the government for looking for solutions to our very stagnant and poor economy, but have a pertinent question for them: is this really an answer to our economic problems? Or better still, is this the best one to be considering at this point in time?

Although the Minister of Finance did not say that this was the major ‘way out’ the government had to our economic woes, the fact that it seems to have been the only one mentioned shows that it occupies a top position on their list.

Let me digress a bit to a story that shows the folly of the proposed solution in the face of current realities.

Back in the area where my mum lives, there is a woman who sells foodstuffs next to her. When we first got there, she had just two girls who were constantly hungry and dirty. From our numerous conversations with her, it is apparent she married her husband to run away from the grinding poverty back home.

When she moved into his house, she realized his display of wealth was a sham. His furniture business would have been successful if he were not jumping from one woman’s bed to another, and if only he would stay in his shop and work. After the second girl was born, she resolved not to have any other children and started a small business selling kerosene and other oddities.

But her husband would have none of it. He accused her of prostituting herself and started beating her. Sometimes, he would come to her shop to beat her, causing the neighbours to come out and plead on her behalf. Finally, she got pregnant and gave birth to the third girl.

But he still was not satisfied. Before the girl was a year, he started beating her again, telling her to give him a boy. She ran to an NGO after a night of particularly intense beatings and he was arrested. He begged for mercy and asked that they go home to settle it since it was a ‘family affair.’

Once released, he called a meeting of all their family members who chastised the woman for not doing her wifely duty. Seeing no way out, she got pregnant again and gave birth to their fourth daughter. But this time around, she almost lost her life. After walking around looking for money to pay her hospital bill, and on the advice of the doctor that another pregnancy may cost her her life, the husband finally agreed not to have any other children.

This is just one of the many scenarios women find themselves in. What about child-brides whose rights over their bodies have been snatched and who are sometimes made to birth their children at home? Women who are forced to continue having children to ‘keep their home together?’

I am not saying that restricting the number of children per mother is a bad idea. After all, China tried it with their one-child policy and even though it came with some unfavourable consequences, it did help with controlling the population. However, at the moment, it is not the best solution for controlling the size of our population. In fact, it most likely will fail before it is even enacted.

What then should be considered?

Restricting the number of children a woman should have without considering the number of wives a man can have will defeat the whole purpose. Click to Tweet

At the risk of sounding like a broken instrument, one field to be explored is education. We should ask ourselves why the so-called first world nations do not have an issue with over-population without having to resort to birth control policies. I have this theory that a well-educated person will not make bad decisions such as birthing more children than he can take care of. And if he had a good job that challenged his mind in addition to an education that helps him to see more clearly, even better.

I am not sure if this is being considered, but what about existing laws that encourage polygamy and child marriages? Shouldn’t those be abolished? Or maybe we don’t want to abolish polygamy – marriages to minors should be prohibited – shouldn’t we be looking at how to make marrying more than one woman less attractive by introducing incentives that encourage monogamy? Restricting the number of children a woman should have without considering the number of wives a man can have will defeat the whole purpose.

I am surprised that even something as simple as improving electricity supply and distribution was not mentioned. Why does the government think people are birthing children every day? When there is nothing to watch or engage the mind, what would couples resort to?

If the Federal Government were to be entirely honest with itself, limiting the number of children per mother is not the best way to control Nigeria’s population. A better way would be to work tirelessly to improve the standard of education and make it compulsory for every child up till secondary school level, review policies encouraging over-population as well as consider the not-so-obvious reasons behind the high birth rates.

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