Lagos – The National Population Commission (NPC) on Tuesday called for collective efforts by government at all levels, stakeholders, public and media to address needs of vulnerable people in times of emergencies.
Mrs Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin, a Federal Commissioner of NPC, made the call at the commemoration of the 2015 World Populations Day in Lagos with the theme: “Vulnerable Populations in Emergencies’’.
Salu-Hundeyin said, “The task of addressing needs of vulnerable population in emergencies is a collective effort of government at all levels, the stakeholders and media.’’
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the World Populations Day started in 1987 to create public awareness on issues of population and development including reproductive health, gender equality and maternal health.
“Vulnerability is the degree to which a population, individual or organisation is unable to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the impacts of disasters.
“Children, pregnant women, elderly people, malnourished people, and people who are ill or immunocompromised, are particularly vulnerable when a disaster strikes, and take a relatively high share of the disease burden associated with emergencies.
,“Emergency situations occasioned by conflicts and natural disasters have become a recurring feature of human existence in modern societies.
“In the last five years, Nigeria has experienced various dimensions of challenges from communal clashes, natural disasters, conflict, and most importantly violence related to the insurgency by Boko Haram armed groups in the North-East,’’ the commissioner said.
She said that available resources would also be used to put adequate measures and plans on ground to reduce the sufferings of vulnerable population in the country.
According to the commissioner, Nigeria’s population is the most important asset we have as a nation.
“The commission needs members of the press to educate the public on the significance of an accurate, trusted and verifiable census to plan for all segments of the population.
“Nigeria should have accurate data on all of its populace, including the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS),” Salu-Hundeyin appealed.
In her remark, Mrs Adenike Ogunlewe, the Lagos State Director of NPC, said that the rate at which population was growing has tremendous impact on the environment, food security and poverty eradication.
According to her, though, most of the attention has been focused on the insurgency in the North-East, there are natural and other man made emergencies that affect many people.
She said that the resultant chaos and casualties from these emergencies were issues that should be the concern of population experts.
Ogunlewe also urged governments to renew their commitments to the eradication of poverty and general development of the citizenry to enhance the achievement of the sustainable development goals.
Also, Mrs Omolara Erogbogbo, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Education, said, vulnerability was about living conditions that exposes families to diseases because of poor sanitary facilities and weather anomalies.
Erogbogbo, represented by Mr Olusegun Idowu, said, “The growth of the world’s population has already impacted sustainability, urbanisation, health, inequality, poverty and global warming.
“Overpopulation has effects on water, food, poverty, fuel, environment and health.
“As many countries globally are contending with the negative impact of overpopulation, we should all be able to combat the effect in various ways that can help the environment,” she said. (NAN)
