An economics professor at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Professor Ganiyat Adesina-Utman, has called on the federal government to enact a law regulating child spacing.
Delivering the university’s 19th inaugural lecture in Abuja on Tuesday, the don urged the government to enforce the law once it is implemented.
Adesina-Utman said there was an urgent need to develop an effective child spacing program to address the current rate of population growth in Nigeria.
She argued that the law would help control indiscriminate child births and would also help reduce infant, child and maternal mortality.
“Since rapid population growth rates are likely to cause man’s demand on the environment to exceed his natural capacity, a child-spacing program should be implemented.”
Adesina-Utman emphasized that the Islamic economic system has the ability to address poverty, ensure equality and justice, and could also be used to bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots.
