iV povER POPULATION STUDY Population can be described as the number of people or a special unit of them, usually of different demographic characteristics, such as age, sex, income, occupation, education, religion, resident etc. individual members are of differe nt family background, having in common political economic and or social characteristics, but are living in a designated geographical area. There is diversity in the discipline for the study of population which include both natural and social sciences that include mathematics, statistics, biology medicine, geography, sociology and economics; where demography is identified as the central discipline related to the study of population. However, demography according to Hauser and Ducancan be defineas the study of the size, territorial distribution and composition of population changes therein and the components of such changes, which may be identified as fertility mortality, territorial movement (migration) and social mobility (change of status). It can also be regarded as the statistical and mathematical study of the size, compositions and spatial distribution of human population and of changes overtime in these aspects through the operation of the five processer; fertility, mortality, marriage, migration and social mobility. These five processes determine the population size, distribution and rate of change. Population studies are very important to the formulation of policy for both urban and Regional development. Their contribution to the formulations of acceptable strategies for the citizens’ welfare are enormous. Governments are always concerned with the provision of infrastructure for socio-economic benefit of their citizens. In order to do this effectively, demographic data collection is paramount to equip policy formulators and project executors with necessary information on the population for planning.In Nigeria today, population size is one of the indices used by the federal government in determining the Proportion of funds and resources allocated to the six geo-political zones. In this case government fouind information on population very helpful and handy. "Demographic studies help in no small measure to know; i, The number of people that are living ii, The number of people that are born iii, The number of people that are dead iv. The number of people that are poor v. The number of people that are old vi. The number of people that are young vii. Population per capital income f Vili. The number of people that are disabled and types of disability. ix. The number of people that are employed and type of employment. x, The number of people that are moving, including the purpose of movement. 5 All these data on population constitute facts, which are inevitable in planning policies and they can be grouped into three main structure, () Population structures and characteristics (ii) Population movement (migration) and (iii) Population size and distribution. ! Population Structures and Characteristics The structures are demographic variables that can be expressed as; Age structure, Sex ratio, marital status, income groups, language, race, family size, literacy, occupation and employment, population distribution, religious affiliation etc.as for population projection. Just like fertility rate, it is calculated per 100 Populations. Education Status This refers to the Population data on the subject of literacy. It establishes individual’s educational qualification and number of years spent in school. This information helps to determine geographical distribution of illiter level of literacy and societal education development, It can instrument of prediction of a societal future development, ‘acy to literacy, be used as an Population Movement (Migration) Population movement is associated to a change in the Population number as a result of migration. It is one of the major determinants of change which oceur in a Particular population. Population number may increase or decrease, depending on Whether such variables like morbidity, fertility and migration are Positive or negative, Birth and death contribute to Population changer but population movement can dramatically bring about a change into a population than any other factors, However, population movement is a concept used in demographic studies and it embraces movement (migration) between one region and another. Succinetly put, Population movement may be sub-classified into the following; @ Unconscious Movement: It is the wondering of early man during the Iron Age, which resulted from Personal effort to occupy most part of the earth surface. ii) Enforced Movement: It includes transportation of slave from Africa to industrial areas of Europe and America, This occurred between 18" and 19" centuries and deportation of ille | immigrants. Mass movement of ep eaAge Structure Age structure is obtained from the classification of population into age groups known as cohorts. Data in age structure are significant in determining the rate at which the population grow and it is one of the fundamental determinants of individual behaviours. Age structure is useful in estimating dynamics of the population. Sex Ratio It explains the ration of male to female, usually expressed as number of males for every 100 females. Information on sex ratio is very important to know the number of male to female as it helps in determining the type of facility needed by the Population, However, age and sex distribution in different ways and different extents are entirely determined by the levels of mortality, fertility and migration. Marital Status Information in marital status explains whether the person male or female is married, single, divorced or widowed information on this variable may be tabulated with other demographic variables. The information helps the policy makers to forecast the population growth pattern. Fertility level Information on fertility may be compiled from population census or vital registration. It is one of the main variables to determine the population change, size and structure. It is calculated per 1000 population in a given year. This can be calculated on crude birth rate, general fertility rate, total fertility rate and age specific fertility rate, Mortality level. Data in mortality trends and levels is one of the paramount instruments for demographic assessment. It is useful for the evaluation of health Policies, as well es 5people from war form and political exil may be categorized under forced movement, (ii) Voluntary Movement: It is a kind of conscious movement from depressed region to economically prosperous area, In demography, itisa sort of migration from one place to another, specifically of a change. Migration is of two forms ie internal migrations and international migration. If migration Pattern of a country takes internal form, it means that people migrate from one geographical unit or location to another within such a Country. If the pattem is in the international form, it means that people migrate from one Country to another. Population migration may be Permanent, semi-permanent, transitory or transient. The major determinant is the circumstance that brought about the movement, In Nigeria Population migration is one of the determinants of Population volume disparity and the most common one is mass movement from economically depressed region mostly rural to economically prosperous region mostly urban. Population Size and Distribution Population size of a country varies from one Seographical location to another. These variations are in the population Spatial distribution and this is the number of people per unit area. It is the number of Person per square kilometer. It is an essential fact about the population number and its Seographical distribution, The average Population density for the country according to 1991 census , where some areas are densel; ly populated, some areas are sparsely Populated, For instance, demographers revealed that while Lagos State had, 1,712 Persons per square kilometer, the Owerri area of Imo State and part of Anambra| State had population density with an average of over 534-458 Persons per square Kilometer and that of Borgu in Niger State was only 33 Persons per square Kilometer (NPC 1998). This is a clear indication of high population density disparity between different regions in the same country. Nigeria population distribution is been group into four (4) main categories, namely; @) Area of High Urban Concentration These areas include metropolitan areas of Lagos, Ibadan, Oshogbo, Enugu, Kano and some commercial towns of Ogun, Rivers, and Kaduna State, with population density of about 500-2000 Persons per square kilometer. Some of these major towns are Pre-colonial towns, in addition they have experienced series of institutional, industrial and commercial development resulting from infrastructure concentration consequently, and they are important growth centres attracting migrants from rural and depressed areas e.g Abuja. (ii) Very Densely Population Rural Areas, These include the oil palm areas of Akwa-Ibom, Abia, Imo, Anambra and Enugu states and the swarpy areas of Lagos state including Badagry Border it also includes such areas like Okenne area of Kogi State, Southern Tivland of Benue state, groundnut growing areas of Kano, JosKastina and Sokoto States. These areas have population density of over 400 Persons per square kilometer. The rural local governments within these areas have high density ranging from 200-310 Persons per square kilometer. Gil) Medium Densely Population AreaRural areas with population between 100 and 200 Persons per square kilometer may be regarded as medium Population density. The rest of the south East and South-south, with the exception of Niger Delta have density of over 100persons per square kilometer. These areas include autonomous communities of Igboland such as Nnewi South and North, Ihiala, Njikoka and Onitsha rural areas, The South-Western rural areas where cocoa, Kola nut and food crops are grown have less than 200 persons per square kilo meter e.g Oshogbo, Ile-Ife, Ondo, Ogbomosho, Akure and Ede. (iv) Areas of Low Population Density The areas of low Population density are less than 100 persons per square kilometer. The areas are of abundant farmland with little access road and with a acute shortage of labour for farming, Their tiny Population is because of low level of infrastructure and other Social facilities and an examples of these are rural communities of states like Ogun, Oyo and Osun. However, the size of each of their densities may change overtime possibly from low to high. Factors Responsible for Inequality in Population Spatial Distribution Some factors are responsible for the vatiation in spatial distribution of Population in Nigeria. These could be grouped as envi economic and historical factors, Environmental Factor ronmental, political, Climate and physical relief play a signi ificant role‘in Population distribution. Rainfall, Soil fertility and vegetation influences agricultural Population distribution, Population density of such areas like cocoa plantation area of the South-West, groundnut and cotton farm areas of the North-East, North-Central and North East at—— and South-South may be attributed to the climate vegetation and soil fertility that favour the growth of their crops. Physical conditions and terrain play as important role in wildering disparity in population density, lowland area, coastal region and basin like Lagos, Port Harcourt, Aba and Warri favour high population concentration, while ragged and undulated hilly area like Jos-Plateau and Gombe witness low population concentration, Political Factor Government policies and decisions largely influence population distribution in Nigeria. Lagos, Ibadan, Port-Harcourt, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano and Abuja can be identified as cities that government policies influenced their population concentration. Some population concentrated urban centres emerged because of incidence of the State creation. State capitals like Abeokuta Benin-City, Oshogbo and Awka are good examples. Migration of people is toward these urban centres because of employment opportunities and social facilities. These is concentration of youth age groups in these urban areas because of presence of office jobs and economic opportunities in form of informal sector. Economic Factor Some areas economically prosperous while some are economically depressed. These situations may be natural or political. Oil producing areas of Port-Harcourt and Niger Delta witnessed population concentration since’ the discovering of petroleum and its exploration since 1970s. Some areas are economically prosperous because of fertile land for agriculture (cocoa region of South-West) and availability of natural resources someof these areas areeconomically prosperous because of high level of commercial and industrial development such as Lagos, Ota, Ibadan, Aba, Enugu, Port-Harcourt, Onitsha and Nnewi. These areas will have considerably high level of population concentration. Historical Factor Some cities in Nigeria experience high population concentration because of their historical origin, In the Yoruba region, some towns are the origin for other new towns Ile-Ife, Oyo, Abeokuta, Ogbomoso, Ijebu-Ode, Ondo, Akure and Owo are good examples of historical towns having political and historical affiliation with other towns. People from these other towns still have their family land and house in these traditional towns. The implication is that there is seasonal population concentration in these categories of traditional towns. During festival and election periods, migration takes place. In Nigeria wealthy people like to build houses in their traditional town or at least in their local government headquarters. POLICY MEASURES TO CORRECT POPULATION SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION DISPARITIES The measures to correct population spatial distribution disparities should include the following: (i) Rural Based Agro-Allied Industrial Development (ii) Policies on Rural Infrastructure Development (iii) Migration Control (iv) Rural Based Tertiary Education Development (v) Rural Free Health and Education A (vi) Adequate Finance of Local Government or Local Government Autonomy. wl(vii) Income Tax Relief for Rural Dwellers. POPULATION GROWTH PATTERN 1. Expansive Growth Population growth pattern explains the process or rate at which a country population increases or decreases, which may be expansive (rapid growth) reducing growth or rear stationary (Stable growth).The term expansive growth is used to describe a population that is experiencing rapid growth. This kind of growth is mostly common to the population that has majority of its population in child bearing age cohorts.If there is no strict adherence to family planning control, there is possibility for such a population to experience high birth, which is very helpful to population explosion. 2. Constrictive Growth ‘A population that experiences slow or reducing growth is constructive. Small proportions of its people are at younger age cohorts with low birth rate if the inward migration is properly checked, the population will be narrowing towards old age cohorts, as the birth rate reduces. 3, Stationary Growth ‘This is a stagnant or stable growth rate, where @ number of people in the childbearing age have birth rate that keeps the people in all age groups in almost equal number, There is tendency to have population in all ages to be equal when there is stable birth rate for a long period in the absence of epidemics, environmental disasters and wars coupled with effective migration control.FORMS OF POPULATION Two types of population may be identified. There are the young and the aged population. Population size and birth rate of a country to a considerable degree would dictate the form its population will take. 1. YOUNGER POPULATION Younger population occurs in a situation where larger proportions of the population are in the younger age groups i.e (0-4yrs) to (19-24years). In a country where majority of its women are in child bearing age groups, there is tendency to have high birth rate, unless there is strict adherence to birth control methods such as family planning etc. Majority of developing countries are at present experiencing high population concentration, at younger age groups. That is the reasons why some of them like Nigeria at present experience high dependency ratio. School age children are concentrated in younger age groups, and they are economically unproductive group. Dependency ratio is the proportion of the people in the dependent age groups (people under 18 and over 64years old), to these in the economically productive age (18-65years old). It measures the economic burden of unproductive age groups. 2 OLD POPULATION OR AGED POPULATION A country will have old population in a situation where large proportion of its population is concentrated in the older age groups of 65years old and above. In this case, the smaller proportion of the population is made up of school are groups and reproductive age groups. Conceptually, maintaining the aged population group is believed to be draper than that of the children and youth groups. The reason is that some of theoe = aged people would have contributed positively during their working age to the Society they live in such as life insurance, self-help accommodation, pension and entitlement and investment in business. Therefore, the level of dependency is very low in the case of old age population. CAUSES OF HIGH BIRTH RATE One of the determinants of population growth rate is birth rate and it varies from one geographical area to another. Factors that are responsible for high birth especially in Nigeria are enumerated below: 1. Low Awareness on Family Planning Method. In most of the developing countries especially in Nigeria, there has been a high birth rate because of low level of awareness of family planning. National Population Policy adopted by the government of Nigeria in 1988 is yet to help in this regard. This might be as a result of improper implementation as people are not fully aware of the relevance of family planning. With this situation, women spend longer period on child bearing, resulting from unprotected long period of sexual union.