“There is a saying that if we fail to take charge of our population size, nature will do it for us.” This may be the case of Nigeria, a nation with an estimated population of over 200 million and annual growth rate of 2.7 percent. The implication of this development is that Nigeria may soon overtake the United States to become the third most populous country in the world by 2050 if the growth rate is not curtailed . Some observers see the population growth trend as worrisome, especially as the nation is presently categorized as the poverty capital in the world with over 9.3 million persons living below the poverty line. This no doubt may not be far from reasons behind several campaigns and sensitization campaign by the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF on child rights violation in the country. On one of it’s sponsored media dialogues in Enugu, Dr Chidiebere Ezinwa of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUTH, indicated several ways poverty as a result of over bloated population aids child rights violation in the country. The University Don however, called for more advocacy on the part of government and the media as a possible way out of the quagmire. Federal Government on its part is not relenting in its efforts to address the challenge as seen in its recent call for birth control measures. It is expected that the commitment of relevant stakeholders including the government will complement efforts by UNICEF and other development partners to provide preventive and response interventions for children who are victims of, or at risk from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation through strengthened Child Protection Systems.
