CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Population is a vital component of the resource base of any country. It is one
of the most valuable assets, especially with regards to its demographic
characteristics. The last century witnessed the total world population double in 38
years and triple in 72 years. The world population in the year 2006 was 6.5 billion,
growing at an annual rate of 1.3 percent. (Population report 2005).
Birth rates are declining slightly on the average but with a wide variation
between the developed and the developing countries. While experts are concerned
about the decline in the population of the developed countries, the population of
sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow dramatically within the next 50 years. With
20.4percent of the total world land area, Africa has a total population of 999 million,
that is 14 percent world’s human population contributing steadily to the growth of
the world’s population (PRB, 2009).
The population of Africa varies in density and distribution from one country
to another. Available data indicate that Africa has the highest fertility rate in the
world, with a crude birth rate of 41 births per 1000 as against the world’s average
crude birth rate of 21 per 1000 (Weeks 2004).
While the developed countries of the world have experienced a well
established decline in fertility and demographic transition from large family sizes to
small family sizes, fertility is only beginning to decline in the developing countries.
Accordingly May (2006) states that despite a new awareness and great efforts by
African governments, the continent is a late comer, the last region in the world to begin
to seriously address over population. But it is like a runner on a tread mill, they are
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running very fast but unfortunately the tread mill is running faster than they are, the
population growth is so fast and so rapid in many ways that they cannot just cope with
the challenges of providing services, especially in education, health and employment
for the population.(pp213)
With a population of a little above 140 million people and an annual growth
rate of 3.3 percent (NPC 2007), Nigeria can be termed an overpopulated country
when compared with the level of her socio-economic development, and the problem
of its development blamed on the population. In the year 2009, Nigeria ranked the
eighth most populous nation in the world (Population Report 2008). The growth in
Nigeria’s population according to Oniboloye (1991) could be occurring because
Nigeria has a high rate of both desired and actual fertility. The Federal Ministry of
Health in Nigeria and the United Nations Aid for International Development (UNAID
2003) report a total mean number of desired children of 6.7. This has further been
corroborated by the 2006 census report (NPC 2007). A woman would bear an
average of 5.7 children throughout her child bearing age (NHDS 2003).
High fertility has become an increasingly important concern for many
governments in developing countries. As a result of the high fertility rate in Nigeria,
the total population has been growing at an alarming rate. For instance, the
population of Nigeria which stood at 30.14 million in 1952 had by 1963 increased to
55.7 million and 88.5 million in 1991. According to Ademola (2002), the population
of Nigeria has apparently tripled its size in the last four decades.
For the purposes of development and well being of Nigeria, the National
Policy on Population was formulated in 1988 and revised in 2004 with the inclusion
of HIV/AIDS which has affected the quality of life of most people. Other issues that
led to the revision are reproductive and sexual health for all persons at all stages of
the life cycle, reproductive rights, adolescent reproductive health, special needs of
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the girl child and women empowerment, in line with the goals and aspirations of the
International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs 2000).
Amongst the goals of the 2004 National Population Policy are achieving lower
population growth rate by voluntary fertility regulation methods and achieving a
more even distribution of population between rural and urban areas. To further
achieve these goals, several objectives were outlined such as creating awareness on
the country’s population problems, educating young people especially the girl child
on fertility regulation and family planning before entering the age of marriage and
child bearing and assisting them towards maintaining responsible parenthood and
reasonable family size, within their ability to foster.
The role of fertility in population dynamics cannot be underestimated, being
a major element of population that brings about change in the demographic, socioeconomic
and political structure of the nation. A rapidly growing population is
usually accompanied by a growing proportion of young people, thus a larger share of
the population would be dependent and non-productive, demanding food and other
necessities of life, but contributing little or nothing to the economy. This will limit
the ability of such economy to meet the needs of the expanding population.
Couples once married want to have children. This is expected because of the
need for the expansion of the lineages’ demographic strength. Men and women have
different reasons for wanting some offsprings. Women’s primary reason as
traditionally conceived is to prove that they are fertile and can physically produce
children. According to Fapohunda and Mott (1997), child bearing has traditionally
been the most important way a woman could prove her value to family continuity.
For men, their reasons include, among others, tradition, religion and to prove sexual
prowess. These reasons help in no small measure to keep Nigerian fertility rate as
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high as it is. The high fertility according to the United Nations Economic Commission
for Africa (UNECA 2006) is caused, particularly in Nigeria by a broad mix of
economic, social and cultural factors including early age at marriage, diminishing
practice of prolonged breast feeding, limited use of modern contraceptives, relative
low status of women and the relative lack of a clear population policy in many
countries.
The influences of culture, tradition, and low socio-economic standards have
made the rural people remain unchanged in their attitude towards fertility. The
desire of couples to have at least one child of either sex, and the continued support
given by socio-cultural factors such as patriarchy, support for parents at old age, title
inheritance, and morbidity issues are some of the factors that have been identified
as contributing directly to continued high fertility in developing countries of Africa,
Asia, and Latin America (Caldwell, 2004). Continued insistence on achieving desired
fertility by couples has brought serious strain on the families and marriages thereby
leading to a breakdown in family ties, separation and subsequently divorce. The
rising rate of marital instability in Nigeria is caused by so many socio- cultural and
economic factors but most importantly sex preference (Akpan, 1998).
Preference for sons over daughters is a common phenomenon in many parts of
the world including Nigeria. Son preference has been well documented in a large
number of countries though the degree of such preference varies from one country
to another depending on such factors as the level of economic development, social
norms, cultural and religious practices, marriage and family systems, degree of
urbanization and the nature of social security system( Das Gupta,1997; Caldwell and
Caldwell, 1997; Bairagi, 2001; Isiugo-Abanihe, 2003; Ottong, 1997; Akpan, 1998).
The preference for sons tends to be particularly pronounced in developing
countries, in rural areas and among more traditional couples and couples of lower
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socio- economic status. Although son preference is still common even in many
economically developed countries (Bennett, 1983), the preference often exists side
by side with parent’s desire to have at least one child of each sex.
In some countries, couples exhibit little or no son preference and there are
even few instances in which a preference for daughters has been documented. For
example, the World Fertility Survey (WFS) found that considerably more women
wanted a daughter for their next child than a son in Jamaica and Venezuela (Cleland,
Verrall and Vaessen 1983). The WFS also found little or no son preference of any
type in South America, in parts of the Caribbean and in Kenya, so also Lesotho and
the Sudan. But son preference has been found to be prevalent in all of East Asia and
among groups outside that region that share a heritage of patriarchal traditions.
According to Arnold and Kuo (1984), son preference in South Korea and Taiwan is
both pervasive and extreme. With all of these there is however little evidence that
son preference has been a substantial obstacle to achieving significant fertility
declines.
In most countries where son preference is strong, it is closely linked to the
low status accorded women in the society, where everything that is derogatory is
associated with being woman. Thus we see several countries making efforts, though
with little results, at achieving some level of equality for men and women. The
Chinese government for example has always advocated and promoted sexual
equality, and it regards the reduction of sexual inequality as one of the major longrange
goals that it must achieve. Although women in China enjoy a relatively high
status compared with women in many other countries, the gender inequalities that
persist make it difficult to achieve further reduction in son preference, (Arnold and
Zhaoxiang, 1986).