Obasanjo at the Africa Progress Group (APG) organized international round table session, held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) Abeokuta, on Wednesday, said the call became imperative in order to assure improved socio-economic development of the continent.
The former President and Chairman of the APG explained that the Roundtable session, with the theme: “Making Africa Population An Asset Rather Than A Liability” said the discussions had become necessary in order to sensitise African governments and other stakeholders within and outside the region on the need for effective management of the population to assure improved socio-economic development of the continent.
Obasanjo specifically observed that the growing and unmanaged population was fuelling terrorism within the region, particularly the Boko-Haram insurgency in Nigeria.
He recalled that 25 of 26 arrested members of the Boko-Haram interviewed by him said they joined the sect while they were in search of job with only one admitting that he joined for religious reasons.
In a communique signed the the APG Director, Prof. Peter Okebukolaparticipants affirmed that “Africa’s population can be an asset not when we are able to feed the citizenry and provide good quality of life but when that population can make meaningful contribution to the entire socio-political economy society.
“To ensure that Africa’s population is an asset to development, after careful consideration of successful practices in managing populations across the world, participants recommended to African leaders as follows:
1. Enthronement and promotion of competent, efficient and effective governance should be top priority for African countries as this is the lever for development and for turning the continent’s population into an asset.2. Based on the power of education in the successful management of populations, educational systems in African countries should be overhauled paying special attention to access to education (Education for all), education of women and girls, entrepreneurship and ensuring relevance of education delivered to the needs of the society. We need better harmonisation of Islamic education and Western education as successfully practised in a number of Islamic countries including Tunisia, Egypt and Indonesia.3. Invest in culturally-compliant family planning procedures, showcasing, publicising and rewarding successful practices.4. Step up public health and environmental awareness to ensure that even with large populations liability of population on health and environmental security will be mitigated 5. Emphasise participation in agriculture, especially mechanised agriculture to foster food and nutrition security even with large populations.6. Improve primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare delivery systems to keep the population healthy and productive.7. Publicise and raise awareness of religious provisions that encourage practices that will slow down population growth rate.8. There must be a decision on the type of society we want especially fostering and managing egalitarianism. What is normal in every African society is the culture of sharing and caring. This culture should be universally encouraged.9. Knowledge and experience sharing of good practices in managing populations among countries in Africa and elsewhere in the world should be encouraged.10. Although the problem of population of Africa today and in the immediate future looks daunting, there are possible approaches that can access globally available resources now lying dormant. One of such approaches is harnessing permanent capital from investment markets. Governments should explore the implementation of the novel, doable idea of permanent capital to address the resource-demand of managing populations. Permanent capital is based on frameworks to address the demographic challenge relating especially to educational, political, cultural and social dimensions. To make the approach work, radical reforms are needed to the policy and regulatory environment. Reduction in overall frictional costs of doing business should also part of the reform.
They also called for enactment and enforcement of state policies “that take care of the elderly so that Asset-based and life course approach to managing Africa’s population can be optimally applied.12. Government in close cooperation with civil society and business should create an enabling environment and policies to support the building of skills and creation of jobs 13. Access to low-interest loans and supporting cooperatives
Key recommendations to Development Partners include
14. Support capacity-building efforts of African governments on good practices of managing populations through technical and funding assistance.15. Use final APG report on the theme as instrument for lobbying both in the north and south so that the SDGs are achieved.
Reaching religious leaders
16. Population management is a sensitive issue which should be approached with caution. Those to be engaged in its propagation through faith-based activities should be those who have the right perspective of the concept.