Population Explosion, One of Nigeria’s Biggest Problems – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has, on Friday revealed that unprecedented population growth was one of the problem of Nigeria.

The President, according to a press statement made available to newsmen by the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, made this known when he received the Nigerian Conservation Foundation and his investiture as the foundation’s patron.

President Buhari, also identified climate change and desert encroachment as other challenges Nigeria is faced with.

He said his administration would continue to keep the issue of reviving the Lake Chad on the front burner and exert more commitment from the developed countries to do the needful.

He asserted that the situation of Lake Chad affects Nigeria more than any country because of the advance effects on farming, animal husbandry and fishing.

He said, “The problem of climate change is real. The desert encroachment is aggravating it. The population explosion in Nigeria is another big challenge.

“The drying up of Lake Chad is a serious thing for Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin countries. Nigeria is much more affected because fishing, animal husbandry and farming are affected very seriously.

“We are trying to prick the conscience of the developed countries that have the resources and the technology to quickly execute the interbasin transfer from Congo Basin to Chad Basin.”

To this end, he directed the Ministry of Environment to reflect this in its budgetary requirements in the next fiscal year.

“The rate at which animals are being hunted and eliminated around the country, we must seriously give the forest reserves our support and attention as much as we can,” he added.

Alhaji Ahmed Joda, a member of the foundation’s Board of Trustees, while speaking, told the President that the nation’s wildlife was fast becoming extinct.

He thanked the President for placing great emphasis on environmental issues, especially the aspect of climate change, and invited him to take charge of ‘Greening Nigeria.’