It has been estimated that Nigeria’s population may grow to 235 million in 2022, given the average growth rates in the population of the states of the federation between 2012 and 2016.
Analysts are worried that with the population growth rate far ahead of economic growth rate, as many as 18 million Nigerians will be without jobs by 2022.
According to the FSDH Research, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) estimated the population of Nigeria to be 194 million in 2016, with an average growth rate of 3.28 per cent between 2012 and 2016.
In other developed climes, a large population offers a large market size, with immense benefits for economic and commercial activities provided there is a strong purchasing power among the citizenry
Unfortunately, it appears that this is not the case with Nigeria because of several social and economic hindrances in the country.
FSDH Research notes that the growth rate in the economy in the last three years is lower than the population growth rate
The latest unemployment rate from the NBS stood at 18.8 per cent as at third quarter of 2017. If this trend continues, FSDH Research forecasts that a total of 18 million Nigerians will be unemployed by 2022, compared with 15 million unemployed as at third quarter of 2017.
A high unemployment rate has both economic and social implications, including high poverty levels, dependency ratio, crime rate and social unrest, as being witnessed in the mid region of the country.
But with sincerity of purpose, Nigeria could unlock the huge benefits inherent in her large population with appropriate policy implementation.
for instance, investment in quality education, healthcare services and establishment of technical centres for skills acquisition could make a lot of difference from what it is today.
Policy makers and economic managers should also create an enabling business environment that would attract investments (both local and foreign) and foster business expansion in order to create jobs.