From left to right: Vice-Chancellor, National Open University (NOUN), Prof. Olufemi Peters; the lecturer, Prof. Ganiyat Adesina-Uthman and the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Studies, Prof. Uduma Oji Uduma during the inaugural NOUN lecture at the school’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
By Funmilayo Adeyemi
A university professor, Professor Ganiyat Adesina-Utman, Professor of Economics at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), has called on the Federal Government to devise an appropriate population policy to deal with the high population rate and the its consequences.
Adesina-Utman said so during the 19th Inaugural Lecture of the University of Abuja on Tuesday under the theme: “What has finance got to do with it”.
She said that no nation talks about economic planning for sustainable development without facts and figures about its population, which requires funding.
According to her, the debate on population and economic development is still relevant.
“We assessed secondary data to examine the Nigerian population policy of 2004 and the study reveals that the target of reducing the population growth rate to 2% or less in 2015 was not achieved.
“A reduction in the total fertility rate to at least 0.6 children every five years was achieved during two periods in 2008 and 2010.
“On achieving universal basic education by 2015, Nigeria was not able to achieve sustainable UBE by 2015.
Nor has it been able to eliminate the gap between male and female enrollment in secondary, tertiary, and vocational and technical education and training.
“The study indicates that the gaps have rather widened over the period,” she said.
The donation also called for a policy to ensure that the birth spacing program is implemented to address the high population growth rate and reduce infant, child and maternal mortality.
She also said that poverty reduction, equality, financial inclusion, insurance financing, rural finance, among others, could be better achieved through alternative financing.
She also recommended an Islamic economic system due to less results achieved through capitalism.
“Since capitalism didn’t work, since there’s been a corrupt system of capitalism, since we’ve tried everything from process and revenue policies to several varieties of monetary goals and come to a difficult end.
“Finance stimulates growth and growth generates more finance.
“However, linking the real sector to the financial socialism that is the basis of Islamic economics is again recommended for individuals, businesses and government at all levels,” she added.
Furthermore, NOUN Vice-Chancellor Professor Olufemi Peters said the lecture was a custom at the institution where at one time; an academic is called to account for his management.