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NASS Divided On Population Reduction Policy

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Members of the House of Representatives were yesterday divided over a motion, seeking the federal government’s special attention towards guarding against population explosion in the country.

A member of the House, Hon. Babatunde Kolawole, who sponsored the motion, had prayed the House for a resolution urging the government “to curb population explosion by urgently coming up with a workable population reduction policy,” as well as directing the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to educate Nigerians on the benefits of family planning.

But trouble started just after when he finished moving the motion, as Hon. Sani Abdul raised a point of order, arguing that the motion was dilatory and would amount to waste of legislative time when it is further considered.

“Population is a sign of strength. As a country, we have the land and the resources to take care of our population, so this motion should be thrown away,” he argued.

Speaker Yakubu Dogara immediately intervened by explaining that the motion was not in any way dilatory, saying: “I don’t think this is dilatory or a waste of legislative time. It is only calling for planning, so you may wish to speak against the motion during the debate.”

Dogara ruled Abdul out of order and called for further debate.

For his part, Hon. Yisa Orker-Jev, said the motion was important in view of the upsurge in anti-social vices in the country, adding that: “A family which have the number of children it cannot cater for or control is a problem.”

Orker-Jev was corroborated by Hon. Ken Chikere, who also emphasised that the country needed to plan, noting that to achieve that, population control must come in.

“The House has all it takes to help in the planning, and we have to start from somewhere. We must remove cultural sentiments from this,” Chikere said.

However, Hon. Balarabe Salame (APC, Sokoto) raised a constitutional point of order, citing Section 38 (1, 2, 3 and 4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), arguing that Nigeria was a secular state where all citizens are allowed to practice their religions, pointing out that Islam and Christianity were the dominant religious groups in the country.

Salame added that the motion was in contrast with the dictates of Islam as contained in the Holy Quran and the teachings of Prophet Mohammed (SAW).

Hon. Olowookere Ajisafe countered Salame’s assertions on the grounds that inputting that the motion was attacking a particular religion contravened Order 9, Rules 4 and 8 of the House Standing Orders, which guard against such remarks during debate on the floor, arguing also that “if population is not controlled, every other thing would be affected.”

Hon. Jagaba Adams arguing in support of the motion, referred members to the House rules which created a Standing Committee on National Planning, with a mandate to among other things, assist in formulating national planning policies for the benefit of the country, noting that the motion was in tune with the House rules.

Speaker Dogara subsequently referred the matter to the House Committees on Justice, Population, and Rules and Business to review and advise the House on further action on the motion.

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