The journey towards achieving a comprehensive and sustainable family planning culture in Nigeria has been challenging and dynamic. The campaign seems to be making limited progress. Similarly, the quest for economic growth and better living standards for our populace has continued to pose a daunting challenge, Onyebuchi Ezigbo writes on the possibilities of breaking the barriers to achieve the desired outcome, because of the present economic and social realities

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), family planning is defined as “the ability of individuals and couples to anticipate and attain their desired number of children and the spacing and timing of their births.”

However, family planning in Nigeria should be seen as a pro-life and development issue which all citizens must embrace as a patriotic pursuit. Over the years, Nigeria has had to grapple with the issue of galloping population growth with no commensurate growth in our economic indices. The result is poverty, a high mortality rate, a surging unemployment rate, social unrest and crime. Unplanned population growth has not enabled our country to develop and provide the basic needs of its citizens.

More often, the message of family planning is misunderstood and misconstrued to mean birth control or associated with the promotion of abortion which makes people oppose the laudable concept. However, it is important to state here that family planning promotes such positive virtues as child spacing and the right timing of births. This practice to a large extent, enables couples to manage their affairs properly, including taking care of their children. It helps parents adequately cater to their children’s basic needs and become useful members of the larger society.

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