Yola — As Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark the 2012 World Population Day yesterday, Adamawa State said it has commenced sensitization on the need for child spacing. Speaking in Yola, Director of the National Population Commission in the state, Alhaji Ahmad Shehu Gurban, noted that the reproductive health situation in Nigeria demands a more holistic intervention, hence the need for door-to-door campaign.

"This campaign must reach even the remotest areas where there is no access to radio and television. A culture of contraceptives use should be enthroned through persistent public education and enlightenment. The recent statement by President Goodluck Jonathan on population management and family planning is a step in the right direction," he said.

He added that a birth control law will aim at promoting reproductive health, especially in the area of contraceptive use, child spacing and safe motherhood.

"Not like what people are thinking, it is not meant to stop birth. Nigeria will not be the first country to make a law on birth control, we should not use religious beliefs to frustrate a good policy", he said.

He assured that the NPC and other stakeholders would carry out enough sensitisation before making a law on birth control. But in their contributions, a veteran journalist, Comrade Abdullahi No-Sweat, and Mallam Usman Madaki, argued that a large population implies a large market for goods and services, as well as a large pool of human resources for development.