Overpopulation In Nigeria Is Just As Dangerous As Boko Haram For National Insecurity

I am tempted to point out that our young Nigerian democracy has a long way to go as it relates to true development and stability.

As a society, it appears that we are currently experiencing mass uncertainty and being haunted by what I call 'National Psychosis' in the like of the collective symptom of overpopulation.

As a people we are the foundational and primary cause of our societal problems.

By virtue of Nigeria’s multiple cultures, histories, religions, and dialects, as a body of people who are supposed to be united by a common purpose, we are now in a state of mistrustfulness, dwindling national insecurity, growth and progress.

In here, National Psychosis, which is seen as a symptom of overpopulation, that is an imbalance between the number of people living in a land and their food supplies, school space, job availabilities, health resources, electrical supplies, water provisions, internet connectivity, institutional resources and other infrastructures.

In the face of this imbalance is the condition of environmental-societal infections which include widened poverty, unemployment, undernourishment, costly living, inequality, biased justice, mistaken identity, unhygienic surroundings, housing problems, uninhabitable living quarters, decreased life expectancy, high infant mortality, unusual high fertility, general scarcity, resource depletion, increased deaths, unusual diseases, drug/alcohol abuse, health problems, poor sanitation, open defecation, poor basic amenities, short-sighted greed, prostitution, human trafficking, open violence, mob lynching, official brutality, general deterioration, poor ventilation, self-harm, overloaded prisons, suicide, prison overcrowding, overcrowded courts, lawlessness and related problems.

With these negative personal and environmental effects floating in and around our people, our institutions by extension find themselves with impacts like institutional backwardness, institutional failings, poor governance, incoherent policies, institutional procrastination, agency duplications, inter agency conflicts, and odd or unusual administrative thinking and behaviors in government.

Symptoms of national psychosis as revealed in overpopulated surroundings include delusions or false beliefs that everyone is corrupt so those who eventually become leaders across government are not extraordinarily bad if they share their ill-gotten wealth widely.

Symptoms of national psychosis as revealed in the overpopulated settings include delusions or false beliefs that working in a government job where available jobs are shared among close family members and friends, harms no one because everyone engages in such acts.

Symptoms of national psychosis as revealed in the overpopulated situations include false reality as in victim-blaming when it comes to rape, yet we wonder why the police and the courts takes a trivial approach to sexual and domestic violence matters.

Symptoms of national psychosis as revealed in the overpopulated surroundings include delusions or false reality as in associating more with members of one’s tribe/religion in both personal and in institutional settings than people from other ethnic and religious groups, yet we still expect ‘one Nigeria’ or national unity.

Symptoms of national psychosis as revealed in the overpopulated settings include delusions or false beliefs that examination malpractice in schools and universities should not exists, yet we face overcrowded exam halls, outdated teaching methods, poorly lit classrooms, poorly equipped libraries and dilapidated laboratories.

Symptoms of national psychosis as revealed in the overpopulated situations include the false reality that over dependence on religion will sustain one’s economic wellbeing even when one detracts from the ability to perform his or her work in a timely, ethical and disciplined manner.

Symptoms of national psychosis as revealed in the overpopulated surroundings include the false reality that contraceptives which are the main elements of proper family planning are against religious norms and values, and they could result in permanent infertility, diminished sexual urge, or leads to promiscuity among women.

Since overpopulation is seen here as a symptom of national psychosis in Nigeria in particular, the goal is to break out from this mass societal ailment with all its negative impacts on national security, sustainable health, religious acts, education and economic developments. As a people we must fully buy into the idea of national family planning, have access to reproductive health services, promote responsible parenting, demand for good political climate, promote less dependence on government work, endorse monogamy, emulate persons of good citizenship mindset, promote industrialization, encourage agriculture, expand entrepreneurship, develop ethical standards, grow private security companies, and establish community based police systems.

Yes, we must continue to fight all forms of violence and insurgences using appropriate official instruments in the same vein, the national psychosis of overpopulation which continues to dig deep into the psyche of the people deserve equal focus as the problems of Boko Haram and others, so that we can fully track, suppress and manage our population in a more systematic, commonsense and sustainable way.

John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D. is a Forensic/Clinical/Public Policy matters Psychologist. [email protected]