Nigeria's population "is expected to [equal and then] surpass that of the US by 2050, according to new UN projections that predict the west African country could be the world's third most populous by the end of this century."
So, that's like putting all the current citizens of the U.S. (around 300 million) into a country roughly the size of Texas. What if one-third to one-half of this huge number are unable to support themselves? Officially Nigeria's unemployment rate is 24%, but the rate among people age 24 and younger is at least 38% and maybe as much as 80% (if the World Bank is correct).
People want jobs, as a Washington Post article five months ago reports:
"At least 16 people were killed in desperate stampedes for government jobs in Nigeria when hundreds of thousands were invited to apply for fewer than 5,000 positions . . ."
Sounds like there's an urgent need for wealth creators and the jobs that come along with that. But wealth creation requires orderly stability, among other things, and "Right now, many African countries aren't particularly adept at either governance or resource management. If they don't improve, exploding population growth could only worsen resource competition . ."
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