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The 1988 Nigerian population policy
HAB~T~~TINTL. Vol.
12,No.
4,pp.
119-123.1988.
0197-3975188 $3.00 + 0.00 @ 1989 Pergamon Press plc
Printed in Great Britain.
The 1988 Nigerian Population
Policy
SIMEON 0. OSUIDE” Bendel State University, Nigeria
INTRODUCTION
The population of Nigeria has been growing rapidly in recent years. The rate of growth from projections is 21/2-Y/z%, one of the highest in the world. The 1963 census put the population of the country at 55.7 million people.’ The projected population for Nigeria in 1987 according to the National Population Bureau is 101.11 million people. In a report on Nigeria by The Futures Group, an American group that is under contract to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which conducts analyses for a number of countries regarding the relationship between population factors and the efforts of those countries to achieve social and economic goals, it stated among other things that “projections for the future indicate that the population could reach about 165 million by the year 2000 and 280 million by the year 2015”.
THIRD WORLD POPULATION
Rapid population growth is not restricted to Nigeria alone. Most of the Third World is currently experiencing a population boom. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in its State of the World Population 1988, Third World countries with depressed resources will account for half of the world’s population by the end of this century when it is expected that the world’s population will hit the 6 billion mark. It said that the world’s population today had passed the 5 billion mark. It pointed out that 1/5of the urban population would live in “megacities” of four million and above by the end of the next century. It expressed concern at the increasing human demands on the environment and in particular its damaging effect on the natural resource base upon which all life depends.2 The world population in 1950 was less than half its present value according to a conference paper: “Agenda 2000: Reasonables, held in Wingspread, Wisconsin in April, 1988”.” At that time, ‘13of the world’s population lived in industrialised nations; now that the population is less than a quarter, and by the early decades of the next century it will be less than l/6. “The developing countries which mostly lie at least partly in the tropics or sub-tropics, were home to about 45% of the world’s people in 1950,55% at present, and will amount to approx. 66% by early next century”. Regional differences can be measured in many different ways. Examples are: *Address for correspondence: Post Office Box 67, Ekpoma, Bendel State, Nigeria. ‘The census in Nigeria in 1973 was found to be unrealistic and it was subsequently rejected. ‘The Guardian. Vol. 5 No. 3,781, Lagos, 20 May 1988, p. 5. 31bid., Q. 9.
119
Simeon
120
0. Osuide
(1) The 25% of the world’s population which live in developed countries base their standard of living on more than 82% of the world’s wealth. (2) The ever-increasing 75% who live in the rest of the world enjoy the benefits of less than 18% of the world’s wealth. (3) The industrialised countries use 90% of industrial energy or minerals available. (4) Per capita income is declining both in Africa and Latin America. A United Nation’s demographic estimate released in 1985 put Nigeria as the tenth most populous country in the world with 95 million people. By the year 2000, about 12 years from now, Nigeria it said would move to the seventh position with 162 million people. By the year 2025, the report says Nigeria will become fourth with 338 million people. The study also shows that 4.8 million children are born in Nigeria annually. The country has one of the highest fertility rates in the world at 7.10%. According to the Futures Group, the average number of children born to each woman by the end of her reproductive years is between 6 and 7 children. This represents a crude birth rate of 46 births per 1,000. Under “mortality”, the report notes that although the crude death rate has declined from about 27 deaths per 1,000 persons in the mid-1960s to 16 deaths per 1,000 persons at present, the infant death rate which is a major component of the overall death rate, has declined from 187 to 85 deaths per 1,000 live births during the same period. The document notes that about 47% of the population is under 15 years of age. “Nigeria has a high dependency ratio with one child economically dependent on each person in the economically productive ages of 15-64. As a contrast in most developed countries, one child is typically dependent on two or three persons of working age”.
IMPLICATIONS
OF NIGERIA’S
LARGE POPULATION
Nigeria is a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The country used to be very prosperous in the days of oil boom which lasted from the mid-sixties to the late seventies. However, with the plunge in oil prices, things are not as rosy as they used to be. The price of oil which peaked at around $40 a barrel in the good old days is currently selling at between $15 and $18 a barrel. Crude oil accounts for more than 85% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings. The picture of the country’s economic position thus becomes very clear from the above figures. The per capita income has thus plunged drastically from the days of oil boom. In the strict economic sense, capital is supposed to be accumulated at a much faster rate than that of population growth if the standard of living is to be improved upon. The result of all the above is the very harsh economic situation currently prevailing in the country. The capital is not available to supply social and economic overheads to match the rising population, with the result that schools are not enough to absorb all that are qualified, hospital beds are in short supply, public transportation has become very chaotic, public services such as water and electricity have become very inadequate and unreliable.4 These reasons and appeals by individuals and some organisations to government to do something about the fast growing population were probably what encouraged the federal government to come out with a population policy in February, 1988, the first of its kind in the country.
4Private boreholes and electric generators have become make up for the inadequacy in the public supply.
very popular
in industries
and private
homes
to
The 1988 Nigerian Population Policy
121
THE POLICY
The central restriction government annum to
theme of the policy, which was approved on 4 February 1988, is the of a woman to producing only four children. As a result, the hopes to reduce the country’s population growth rate from 3.4% per 2.5% by 1985 and 2% by the year 2000. The document is titled
National Policy on Population and Development for Unity, Progress and Selfreliance. The committee which drafted the policy drew its members from about
16 governmental and non-governmental bodies, such as the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN), National Council of Women’s Societies (NCWS), Women in Nigeria (WIN), and National Council of Population Activities (NCPA). In formulating the policy, the committee relied greatly on the works of The Futures Group. The goals of the policy are as follows: (1) to improve the standards of living and the quality of life for all the people of this nation; (2) to achieve lower population growth rates, through voluntary reduction in birth rates and (3) to achieve a more balanced distribution of population between urban and rural areas. Its objectives include: (1) to promote awareness among the citizens of this country, of our population situation and the impact of rapid population on development, within the shortest time possible; (2) to educate all young people on population matters, family life, fertility regulation and family planning before entering the ages of marriage and child-bearing. This is to assist them towards becoming responsible parents and achieving reasonable family sizes within their ability to foster; and (3) to enhance integrated rural-urban development to improve the living conditions in the rural areas and slow down the rate of migration from rural areas to the cities. On the other hand, the targets for the policy embody: (1) a reduction of the proportion of women who get married and/or bear children before the age of 18 years by 50% by 1995 and by 80% by the year 2000, for the protection of the health of mother and child; (2) an aim to achieve a birth interval of at least 2 or more years among at least 50% of women of child bearing age by 1990 and 80% by the year 2000; (3) to reduce the proportion of women bearing children after 35 years of age by 50% by 1995 and 80% by the year 2000; (4) to reduce the proportion of women bearing four or more children by 50% by 1995 and by 80% by the year 2000; (5) to reduce the number of children the average woman is likely to have during her life-time (now six), to an average of four children/ woman by year 2000; and (6) to reduce infant mortality to 70 per 1,000 live births by the year 2000. The document realises the importance of women in the development of any nation. With this in mind, Nigerian women are to be given every opportunity to contribute positively to the development of the country. To achieve this the policy recommends the following. (1) The role of women as mothers and workers shall be recognised in all sectors of the economy and day-care centres for nursing mothers shall be provided on voluntary basis. (2) Programmes to reduce the heavy burden of work of rural women shall include the introduction of appropriate labour-saving technology in agriculture, industry and domestic work such as the provision of potable water, rural electrification and subsidised fuel. (3) Programmes shall be introduced to guarantee equal opportunity between the sexes in education, employment, housing and business. (4) Intensive action programmes aimed at improving and protecting the legal
122
Simeon 0. Osuide
rights and status of women shall be eliminated as provided for in the international convention to which the nation is a signatory. (5) All employers of labour shall be encouraged to limit maternity benefits to three pregnancies or to pregnancies of at least 3 years interval. HOW NIGERIANS
VIEW THE POLICY
The response of Nigerians both as individuals and organisations came soon after the policy was announced. Most people reacted critically and were of the opinion that (1) it was discriminatory against women; (2) it would not be effective in checking the current rate of population growth. Also Catholicism, Islam and some other Christian sects who have a large following in Nigeria do not encourage birth control. Those who supported the policy were mainly government officials and those who were instrumental in formulating the policy. The President of the Nigerian Army Officer’s Wives Association (NAOWA), the wife of the Nigerian Army Chief of Staff, criticised the policy and saw it as an open invitation to men to marry more wives and as a threat to marital stability. She suggested an amendment to the policy to be binding on husband and wife. The President of the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) also spoke in the same vein. She saw the policy as a licence for marital irresponsibility on the part of men. Her contention is that since the policy only regulates women, nothing stops men who want more children from marrying more wives. She does not therefore see the policy as capable of controlling population growth. Religious leaders were very vocal in condemning the policy. The Catholic Archibishop of Lagos and the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), issued a joint press statement on 10 February 1988 condemning the government’s attempt to control births. CAN called for the abrogation of the policy or, alternatively that it should be amended to provide “that no married couple should have more than 4 children”. CAN’s fears are based on the longterm effect of the policy on the Christian/Moslem population ratio in the country. A Moslem who can marry up to four wives has the possibility of having up to 16 children under the policy while a Christian can have only four. The other fear CAN has is that a Christian with a large appetite for children might be forced to marry more than one wife thereby falling out of the Christian fold. The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos later said that the population policy is “a violation of the equality of both sexes”. Moslems are also known not to be in support of any policy that predetermines the number of children a man or woman should have. In a seminar on “Islam and Population Policy”, held at the University of Ibadan 5 months before the policy was announced, the communique issued at the end of the conference said it was un-Islamic to predetermine the number of children a citizen may have. It warned the government to “desist from making the prevention of pregnancy a matter of national policy”. The latest reaction came from the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria at the end of its first planary meeting in Lagos in May 1988. The Conference said that the policy encroaches on the rights of parents, victimises women, encourages polygamy and could give rise to panic. “Too ready acceptance of socalled expert advice from outside, without difference to womanly sensibilities and dignity is unwise”, the Conference cautioned, emphasising that the Catholic stand on artificial means of population control was well known. Other people have also argued that the cut-off point of four is too high. They cite the example of China which started with two children/couple and today only 1 child is allowed. (India has a maximum of two in addition to other drastic measures adopted by the late Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandi.)
The 1988 Nigerian Population Policy
123
The Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria, (PPFN), however supports the policy of four children to a woman. He said it has been proved that gynaecological complications, which endanger the life of mothers, were more common after the fourth pregnancy. “The fifth, sixth and seventh pregnancies expose women to risks and it is on this score that government decided to peg the maximum number of children per woman to four.”
POLICY IMPLEMENTATION
The document itself says nothing about measures against non-compliance and incentives to encourage acceptance. The Executive Director of PPFN said that before the policy takes effect, the government will come out with a list of incentives and disincentives to encourage voluntary acceptance. Implementation by coercion has been totally ruled out by the government.
CONCLUSION
Although there is no recent population census in Nigeria, studies carried out by external bodies and independent bodies within the country point to the fact that Nigeria is overpopulated. A policy to curb overpopulation is thus very desirable at this time when the country is going through harsh economic times. However, the policy announced early this year by the government is not capable of checking the current rapid growth rate. A better policy would be to restrict a couple to four children in the case of Christians who can marry only one wife, in the case of Traditionalists and Moslems who can marry up to four wives or more, each woman should have only one child subject to an upper limit of four children for the man or in the family. Better still, the policy should be amended to stipulate a maximum of three children for a couple or in a family as the case may be, to take into account the current young age structure of the Nigerian population. The number of young women entering their reproductive years exceeds the number of older women moving out of it. Today’s children who will be the parents of the future, are already very numerous. What this means is that even if the present high rate of fertility declines in the immediate future to the point that each couple has only 2 children to replace itself, the population of the country will continue to grow substantially for so many years to become equal to the reproductive life span of the current young generation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Newswatch, pp. 15-19, Lagos, 29 February, 1988. Osuide, S.O., Population Growth and Housing in Nigeria, Habitat Intl 12(2), 1988. The Guardian, p. 7, Lagos, 6 April, 1988. Verifas, Benin City, Vol. 1, No. 9, p. 1, May/June,
1988.
12,No.
4,pp.
119-123.1988.
0197-3975188 $3.00 + 0.00 @ 1989 Pergamon Press plc
Printed in Great Britain.
The 1988 Nigerian Population
Policy
SIMEON 0. OSUIDE” Bendel State University, Nigeria
INTRODUCTION
The population of Nigeria has been growing rapidly in recent years. The rate of growth from projections is 21/2-Y/z%, one of the highest in the world. The 1963 census put the population of the country at 55.7 million people.’ The projected population for Nigeria in 1987 according to the National Population Bureau is 101.11 million people. In a report on Nigeria by The Futures Group, an American group that is under contract to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which conducts analyses for a number of countries regarding the relationship between population factors and the efforts of those countries to achieve social and economic goals, it stated among other things that “projections for the future indicate that the population could reach about 165 million by the year 2000 and 280 million by the year 2015”.
THIRD WORLD POPULATION
Rapid population growth is not restricted to Nigeria alone. Most of the Third World is currently experiencing a population boom. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in its State of the World Population 1988, Third World countries with depressed resources will account for half of the world’s population by the end of this century when it is expected that the world’s population will hit the 6 billion mark. It said that the world’s population today had passed the 5 billion mark. It pointed out that 1/5of the urban population would live in “megacities” of four million and above by the end of the next century. It expressed concern at the increasing human demands on the environment and in particular its damaging effect on the natural resource base upon which all life depends.2 The world population in 1950 was less than half its present value according to a conference paper: “Agenda 2000: Reasonables, held in Wingspread, Wisconsin in April, 1988”.” At that time, ‘13of the world’s population lived in industrialised nations; now that the population is less than a quarter, and by the early decades of the next century it will be less than l/6. “The developing countries which mostly lie at least partly in the tropics or sub-tropics, were home to about 45% of the world’s people in 1950,55% at present, and will amount to approx. 66% by early next century”. Regional differences can be measured in many different ways. Examples are: *Address for correspondence: Post Office Box 67, Ekpoma, Bendel State, Nigeria. ‘The census in Nigeria in 1973 was found to be unrealistic and it was subsequently rejected. ‘The Guardian. Vol. 5 No. 3,781, Lagos, 20 May 1988, p. 5. 31bid., Q. 9.
119
Simeon
120
0. Osuide
(1) The 25% of the world’s population which live in developed countries base their standard of living on more than 82% of the world’s wealth. (2) The ever-increasing 75% who live in the rest of the world enjoy the benefits of less than 18% of the world’s wealth. (3) The industrialised countries use 90% of industrial energy or minerals available. (4) Per capita income is declining both in Africa and Latin America. A United Nation’s demographic estimate released in 1985 put Nigeria as the tenth most populous country in the world with 95 million people. By the year 2000, about 12 years from now, Nigeria it said would move to the seventh position with 162 million people. By the year 2025, the report says Nigeria will become fourth with 338 million people. The study also shows that 4.8 million children are born in Nigeria annually. The country has one of the highest fertility rates in the world at 7.10%. According to the Futures Group, the average number of children born to each woman by the end of her reproductive years is between 6 and 7 children. This represents a crude birth rate of 46 births per 1,000. Under “mortality”, the report notes that although the crude death rate has declined from about 27 deaths per 1,000 persons in the mid-1960s to 16 deaths per 1,000 persons at present, the infant death rate which is a major component of the overall death rate, has declined from 187 to 85 deaths per 1,000 live births during the same period. The document notes that about 47% of the population is under 15 years of age. “Nigeria has a high dependency ratio with one child economically dependent on each person in the economically productive ages of 15-64. As a contrast in most developed countries, one child is typically dependent on two or three persons of working age”.
IMPLICATIONS
OF NIGERIA’S
LARGE POPULATION
Nigeria is a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The country used to be very prosperous in the days of oil boom which lasted from the mid-sixties to the late seventies. However, with the plunge in oil prices, things are not as rosy as they used to be. The price of oil which peaked at around $40 a barrel in the good old days is currently selling at between $15 and $18 a barrel. Crude oil accounts for more than 85% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings. The picture of the country’s economic position thus becomes very clear from the above figures. The per capita income has thus plunged drastically from the days of oil boom. In the strict economic sense, capital is supposed to be accumulated at a much faster rate than that of population growth if the standard of living is to be improved upon. The result of all the above is the very harsh economic situation currently prevailing in the country. The capital is not available to supply social and economic overheads to match the rising population, with the result that schools are not enough to absorb all that are qualified, hospital beds are in short supply, public transportation has become very chaotic, public services such as water and electricity have become very inadequate and unreliable.4 These reasons and appeals by individuals and some organisations to government to do something about the fast growing population were probably what encouraged the federal government to come out with a population policy in February, 1988, the first of its kind in the country.
4Private boreholes and electric generators have become make up for the inadequacy in the public supply.
very popular
in industries
and private
homes
to
The 1988 Nigerian Population Policy
121
THE POLICY
The central restriction government annum to
theme of the policy, which was approved on 4 February 1988, is the of a woman to producing only four children. As a result, the hopes to reduce the country’s population growth rate from 3.4% per 2.5% by 1985 and 2% by the year 2000. The document is titled
National Policy on Population and Development for Unity, Progress and Selfreliance. The committee which drafted the policy drew its members from about
16 governmental and non-governmental bodies, such as the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN), National Council of Women’s Societies (NCWS), Women in Nigeria (WIN), and National Council of Population Activities (NCPA). In formulating the policy, the committee relied greatly on the works of The Futures Group. The goals of the policy are as follows: (1) to improve the standards of living and the quality of life for all the people of this nation; (2) to achieve lower population growth rates, through voluntary reduction in birth rates and (3) to achieve a more balanced distribution of population between urban and rural areas. Its objectives include: (1) to promote awareness among the citizens of this country, of our population situation and the impact of rapid population on development, within the shortest time possible; (2) to educate all young people on population matters, family life, fertility regulation and family planning before entering the ages of marriage and child-bearing. This is to assist them towards becoming responsible parents and achieving reasonable family sizes within their ability to foster; and (3) to enhance integrated rural-urban development to improve the living conditions in the rural areas and slow down the rate of migration from rural areas to the cities. On the other hand, the targets for the policy embody: (1) a reduction of the proportion of women who get married and/or bear children before the age of 18 years by 50% by 1995 and by 80% by the year 2000, for the protection of the health of mother and child; (2) an aim to achieve a birth interval of at least 2 or more years among at least 50% of women of child bearing age by 1990 and 80% by the year 2000; (3) to reduce the proportion of women bearing children after 35 years of age by 50% by 1995 and 80% by the year 2000; (4) to reduce the proportion of women bearing four or more children by 50% by 1995 and by 80% by the year 2000; (5) to reduce the number of children the average woman is likely to have during her life-time (now six), to an average of four children/ woman by year 2000; and (6) to reduce infant mortality to 70 per 1,000 live births by the year 2000. The document realises the importance of women in the development of any nation. With this in mind, Nigerian women are to be given every opportunity to contribute positively to the development of the country. To achieve this the policy recommends the following. (1) The role of women as mothers and workers shall be recognised in all sectors of the economy and day-care centres for nursing mothers shall be provided on voluntary basis. (2) Programmes to reduce the heavy burden of work of rural women shall include the introduction of appropriate labour-saving technology in agriculture, industry and domestic work such as the provision of potable water, rural electrification and subsidised fuel. (3) Programmes shall be introduced to guarantee equal opportunity between the sexes in education, employment, housing and business. (4) Intensive action programmes aimed at improving and protecting the legal
122
Simeon 0. Osuide
rights and status of women shall be eliminated as provided for in the international convention to which the nation is a signatory. (5) All employers of labour shall be encouraged to limit maternity benefits to three pregnancies or to pregnancies of at least 3 years interval. HOW NIGERIANS
VIEW THE POLICY
The response of Nigerians both as individuals and organisations came soon after the policy was announced. Most people reacted critically and were of the opinion that (1) it was discriminatory against women; (2) it would not be effective in checking the current rate of population growth. Also Catholicism, Islam and some other Christian sects who have a large following in Nigeria do not encourage birth control. Those who supported the policy were mainly government officials and those who were instrumental in formulating the policy. The President of the Nigerian Army Officer’s Wives Association (NAOWA), the wife of the Nigerian Army Chief of Staff, criticised the policy and saw it as an open invitation to men to marry more wives and as a threat to marital stability. She suggested an amendment to the policy to be binding on husband and wife. The President of the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) also spoke in the same vein. She saw the policy as a licence for marital irresponsibility on the part of men. Her contention is that since the policy only regulates women, nothing stops men who want more children from marrying more wives. She does not therefore see the policy as capable of controlling population growth. Religious leaders were very vocal in condemning the policy. The Catholic Archibishop of Lagos and the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), issued a joint press statement on 10 February 1988 condemning the government’s attempt to control births. CAN called for the abrogation of the policy or, alternatively that it should be amended to provide “that no married couple should have more than 4 children”. CAN’s fears are based on the longterm effect of the policy on the Christian/Moslem population ratio in the country. A Moslem who can marry up to four wives has the possibility of having up to 16 children under the policy while a Christian can have only four. The other fear CAN has is that a Christian with a large appetite for children might be forced to marry more than one wife thereby falling out of the Christian fold. The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos later said that the population policy is “a violation of the equality of both sexes”. Moslems are also known not to be in support of any policy that predetermines the number of children a man or woman should have. In a seminar on “Islam and Population Policy”, held at the University of Ibadan 5 months before the policy was announced, the communique issued at the end of the conference said it was un-Islamic to predetermine the number of children a citizen may have. It warned the government to “desist from making the prevention of pregnancy a matter of national policy”. The latest reaction came from the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria at the end of its first planary meeting in Lagos in May 1988. The Conference said that the policy encroaches on the rights of parents, victimises women, encourages polygamy and could give rise to panic. “Too ready acceptance of socalled expert advice from outside, without difference to womanly sensibilities and dignity is unwise”, the Conference cautioned, emphasising that the Catholic stand on artificial means of population control was well known. Other people have also argued that the cut-off point of four is too high. They cite the example of China which started with two children/couple and today only 1 child is allowed. (India has a maximum of two in addition to other drastic measures adopted by the late Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandi.)
The 1988 Nigerian Population Policy
123
The Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria, (PPFN), however supports the policy of four children to a woman. He said it has been proved that gynaecological complications, which endanger the life of mothers, were more common after the fourth pregnancy. “The fifth, sixth and seventh pregnancies expose women to risks and it is on this score that government decided to peg the maximum number of children per woman to four.”
POLICY IMPLEMENTATION
The document itself says nothing about measures against non-compliance and incentives to encourage acceptance. The Executive Director of PPFN said that before the policy takes effect, the government will come out with a list of incentives and disincentives to encourage voluntary acceptance. Implementation by coercion has been totally ruled out by the government.
CONCLUSION
Although there is no recent population census in Nigeria, studies carried out by external bodies and independent bodies within the country point to the fact that Nigeria is overpopulated. A policy to curb overpopulation is thus very desirable at this time when the country is going through harsh economic times. However, the policy announced early this year by the government is not capable of checking the current rapid growth rate. A better policy would be to restrict a couple to four children in the case of Christians who can marry only one wife, in the case of Traditionalists and Moslems who can marry up to four wives or more, each woman should have only one child subject to an upper limit of four children for the man or in the family. Better still, the policy should be amended to stipulate a maximum of three children for a couple or in a family as the case may be, to take into account the current young age structure of the Nigerian population. The number of young women entering their reproductive years exceeds the number of older women moving out of it. Today’s children who will be the parents of the future, are already very numerous. What this means is that even if the present high rate of fertility declines in the immediate future to the point that each couple has only 2 children to replace itself, the population of the country will continue to grow substantially for so many years to become equal to the reproductive life span of the current young generation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Newswatch, pp. 15-19, Lagos, 29 February, 1988. Osuide, S.O., Population Growth and Housing in Nigeria, Habitat Intl 12(2), 1988. The Guardian, p. 7, Lagos, 6 April, 1988. Verifas, Benin City, Vol. 1, No. 9, p. 1, May/June,
1988.