MP DENIES ALLEGED POPULATION CONTROL BILL

From JOSHUA I. EGBODO, Abuja
Posted: Tuesday, July 26, 2011

A MEMBER of the House of Representatives, Mr. Jerry Manwe (PDP Taraba) has stated that the lower legislative house of the National Assembly has never contemplated enacting a law that will seek to control Nigeria's population. According to the lawmaker, only God has the power to do so.
Manwe who was reacting to recent media reports, suggesting that the House was in the process of enacting a law with a view to curbing the growing population of Nigeria said the parliament was more concerned with laws that will bring food on the table of citizens rather than population control.
His words: "Neither the Speaker, I, nor any member has that as our agenda. Our population is manageable with the right application of resources. We are surprise to read some media reports insinuating that the House was going to pass a bill to curb population growth.
"I want o use this opportunity to deny that report as the House is a responsible parliament and will never try to do anything like especially considering the fact that such is unreligious and ungodly," he said.
He said the House believed that good utilisation of resources through huge investment in infrastructural development and cutting of waste in governance are the most important things to do by every responsible government.
"The seventh House under the leadership of Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has already taken in the lead in this direction by reducing members' quarterly allowance and office running costs by 63 percent," he noted.
Manwe maintained that it was rather the opinion of the House that, time has come for Nigeria to begin investing heavily for future generations and save a lot for rainy days. That was why according to him, the National Assembly gave an express passage to the bill establishing the Sovereign Wealth Fund of the Federation, "and we will not relent in this effort as we have resolved to give the nation a purposeful leadership."
Continuing, the lawmaker said "the seventh House National Legislative Agenda will be vigorously implemented as it will no longer be business as usual.
"If China which is the most populous nation on earth is able to manage its population and put food on the table of every Chinese, there is no reason for Nigeria to fail in this direction as our population is no where compared to that of China. Our problem is not over population but corruption and waste," he added.