Nigeria urged to use population size as world's total hits 7 bln

The Nigerian government is urged to take advantage of the West African country's large population to achieve greatness as the world's population reaches 7 billion on Oct. 31. Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Agathe Lawson gave the advice in Abuja on Wednesday. She disclosed that Nigeria's population would be hitting the 167 million mark by Oct. 31, hence, the need to put a proper plan in place to boost every sector of the society. She called on government to take advantage of the significance of the day to reflect on how to improve all facets of the society. The UNFPA country representative said the significance of the day was to make the world to the realize the importance and role of everyone in development. According to her, UNFPA supports countries in using their population data to plan and implement policies and programs to reduce poverty amongst the populace. Lawson said as the world would be reaching 7 billion, Nigeria would also be marking its 167 million population hence the need to act rightly to achieve its vision 2020. She said such a population was big and demanding, adding that the government should know what it would do with the number.