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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   THE BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The  consequences  of  population  growth  on  the  economic development of less developed countries are not the same because the condition prevailing in these countries are quite different from those of developed  economy.  Therefore  the  body of  literature  on  population growth in Nigeria has always emphasized either the negative or the positive effect.

Therefore in every discussion, it is conventional to start with  a
definition  of  terms  used  in  such  discussion.  However,  population
growth can be seen by a demographer as a change in the size of the
population. But when this change occurs in such a way that it reduces
the size of population, the demographer refers it as a negative growth
but when it adds to the size of the population he regards it as a positive
one. What we get from this concept is that population growth can be
positive  or  negative  depending  on  whether  there  is  an  increase  or

decrease in the size of a given population. Population whether positive or negative is derived from three demographic variables such as birth, death and migration rates

Udabah (1999) Threw more light on this by adding that birth and
death rates in underdeveloped countries are quite different from that of
developed countries. Births rate in underdeveloped are generally high,
why those of developed countries are low. On the other hand, death
rates  are  higher  in  underdeveloped  nations.  The  higher  rate  of
population growth is therefore a major characteristic of underdeveloped
nations  and  is  partly  responsible  for  the  low  rates  of  economic
development.

Moreover, the population of any country constitutes the most vital
component of its resource base. This aspect is based mostly on its size,
growth rate, spatial distribution, demographic structure and quality in
terms  of  level  of  education,  fitness  and  social  welfare.  Population
statistics are indispensable impute into the planning process in any area.
To  government  issuing  programmes  for  instance  in  the  efforts  of
government in the developing countries to feed the people and also

provide  quality  services  for  them  are  being  frustrated  by  rapid
population  growth.  This  growth  is  attributable  on  the  one  hand  to
improvement  in  human  survival  associated  with  the  application  of
modern  medical  science  to  health  matters,  better  sanitation  and
immunization of children which have caused the death rate to decrease.

On the other hand, so many socio-cultural issues have complimented the growth of population in Nigeria positively  (Lee and Miler  1990, Rennne 1995, Ainsword et al 1996).

Consequently, the world population has been increasing and the last
two decades have been demographically unprecedented as it rose from

4.2 billion people in 1985 to 6.4 billion in 2010. Much of this occurred
in the developing nations as their population grew from 3.7 billion to

5.1 billion as against that of developed nation which grew from  1.1 billion to 1.2 billion over the same period (United Nation 2001 billion).
Nigerian‟s population is one of the fastest growing population in the
world and Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, ranked the tenths as obtained from two major sources, viz the 1991 census and the Population Reference Bureau World Population Data Sheet.

Obviously, the population of Nigeria is large which makes it a “giant”
relative to the other Africa countries. The large population of Nigeria
implies a large market for goods and services as well as large pool of
human resources for development. However, the impact of population
on development depends not only on the absolute size but also on its
quality. The major function responsible for the rapid increase in the
population  of  the  country  is  the  relatively  high  fertility  level  as
portrayed by a total fertility rate of about 6.0 life – birth per woman in
the 1990‟s

Having seen from theoretical and empirical view that the population
growth is an impediment to the economic growth and development
especially under developing countries. It is then important to answer
this question, how detrimental is population growth to the economic
growth?  To  answer  these  we  look  into  the  interactions  between
population  growth  and  any  of  the  economic  variable  such  as ,

population growth, unemployment, savings ,interest, and inflation etc.
So in this research work, our demonstration of the impact of population
on economic growth will be based on the study of the relationship

between population growth, interest, unemployment and inflation. Now
the  question  to  answer  becomes  how  those  population  growth
influences  unemployment?  Since  we  are  working  on  the  impact  of
population growth on Nigeria, as whose population according the 2006
census was estimated to be at a growth rate of 3%, our limitation of this
study would be on the Nigeria GDP (Gross Domestic Product) or GNI
(GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT) versus the population growth rate of
Nigeria.

Nevertheless, economic growth is the GDP OR GNI divided by the total population of the whole country. This measures the level of output  in  the  economy.  This  equation  implies  that  if  population  is rapidly  growing,  the  economic  growth  will  reduce  marginally  and people income will also decrease. So according to the finding, GDP  can be improved that is GDP per capital by checking the population growth rate  through  birth  control,  death  rate,  migration  and  some  other economic variables and demographic variables.

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Fundamentally,  growth  is  an  indispensible  requisite  for  the
development that is why Nigeria‟s   economic growth had continue to
dominate  the  main  thrust  of  government  paramount  objective  more
importantly, growth is associated with policies of control population
growth  because  a  high  population  lead  to  a  vicious  depletion  of  a
nation‟s financial and material resources. According to CBN (1997) the
population growth rate of Nigeria is at an average of 2.83% from 1993
to  1997 as compared to developed country like United States whose
population rate is 1.00% on the average. This rapid population growth
has efficiently induce wide spread poverty. According to Chege (1992),
Nigeria became worst than the early post-colonial period. In the 1980‟s
the  agricultural  sector  declined  in  productivity  by 1.3%  while

population grew by 3.1% thus creating severe food shortage, a fall in
capital income, a fall in savings and living standard . Because of this
type of situation economic growth been severely retarded and dwarfed.

The above presentation points to the critical stance of the economy and therefore makes a clarion call for adequate measure to control the growth rate of Nigeria‟s population which is at  2.8%per annum. To check this, we require constructive demographic policy approaches that will seriously enlighten citizens of the eminent socio-economic danger of rapid population growth.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

1        To find out the relationship between population growth and
economic growth.

  1. To examine the impact of population growth on economic growth.
  2. To proffer appropriate solution / recommendation to authority in

Charge of managing the economy on how to remedy the situation population growth.

1.4    STATEMENT OF THE HYPOTHESIS

The hypothesis to be used is stated thus:

H0:= The impact of population growth on Nigerian economy is not
significant.

H1:= The impact of population growth on Nigerian economy is
significant.

H0:= There is no casual relationship between population growth and
economic growth.

H1:= There is casual relationship between population growth and
economic growth.

1.5      SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY

 

1        It provides information on population trends and their implication

 

To the policy makers, educators, the media and the concern public

Servant.

2        To ascertain the truthfulness whether population growth impact

 

Negatively   or   positively   to   the   economic   development.

3        This study will also serve as a reference research work for the

society further studies

1.6   SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This research is macroeconomic in nature and over the trend of
population growth rate and economic growth rate in Nigeria from 1980
to 2010 a period of 30 years. The study also focuses on the effects of
population growth on economic growth in Nigeria in a bid to analyze
the options available to accelerate economic development, taking into
cognizance of the fact that other factors outside the sphere of population
are also important in the determination of the face of economic growth.

1.7      LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The utility of this research work is restricted to the exclusive focus on population size and growth.

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