As Jonathan admires Thomas Malthus (II)
The questions, if we may ask, are: Is Jonathan protesting over population on behalf of God? But If God created man; who between God (the Creator) and man (a creature) has the prerogative to protest over population? Or has God, the Creator of everything in the heavens and the earth (including man), complained that human […]
The questions, if we may ask, are: Is Jonathan protesting over population on behalf of God? But If God created man; who between God (the Creator) and man (a creature) has the prerogative to protest over population? Or has God, the Creator of everything in the heavens and the earth (including man), complained that human population is getting out of control? If yes, where, when and how did He complain to either Thomas Malthus or Goodluck Jonathan? It is relevant to remind Malthus and his disciple Jonathan that if birth were controlled before now, both of them would perhaps not have come in to this world let alone propound or cherish (as the case may be) any population theory.
If Malthus’ hypothesis that “the power of population to multiply is greater than the power of the earth to provide subsistence for man” were anything to believe, this column reminds advocates of the premise that subsistence is neither a product of any natural resources nor of man’s intellect. If the living organism with the biggest population on earth, the Copepods, has never gone extinct due to starvation arising from over-population; what then is the basis of the argument that the earth would run out of provisions for her “over-populated” human inhabitants? Copepods are tiny crustaceans that live in marine and freshwater environments. It is estimated that “there are more individual copepods on the planet than there are insects all put together”.
Similarly, if sustenance were a product of human intellect or other special abilities, no other animal apart from man would have survived on earth. Yet, we see birds, goats and insects (who certainly have no bank accounts or farms or food store) eating and drinking to their satisfaction each day of their existence. Allah (SWT) states in Qur’an 11:6 “There is no moving creature on earth but its sustenance dependeth on Allah: He knoweth the time and place of its definite abode and its temporary deposit: All in a clear record”. Furthermore, Islam teaches that poverty should not be the determinant factor of human population. Allah (SWT) warns in Qur’an 17:31 “Kill not your children for fear of want: we shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you. Verily the killing of them is a great sin”. Let us commit to our memory that only God has the right to determine how many children a man or woman should have. In any case, no matter the approaches man adopts by means of a law or “planning” devices with a view to “controlling birth”, nothing shall ever stop a child decreed to come in to this world by Allah (SWT) from being conceived and given birth to.
Jonathan ought to have put Nigeria within the context of a nation with socio-economic peculiarities; a country where life is threatened by several challenges of survival including high infant and maternal mortality rate, endemic poverty and joblessness. Jonathan should have examined the correlation between “uncontrolled population” and death rate in Nigeria. There is every tendency that death rate in Nigeria, if not higher, is not lower than birth rate.
Why wouldn’t there be more Nigerians who die daily than they are born when there is limited access to primary health care; when only 55 percent of the population can access clean water; when 70 percent of the population lives below the poverty line; when majority of youths in the country are unemployed; when about 1,000 women die daily in pregnancy and childbirth as do 22,000 children die each day from preventable diseases? How then, could someone (a President for that matter), advocate “birth control” for a country with this statistics of death toll and challenges?
It is un-Godly to limit the number of children per family. It is un-Godly because birth control is not in the scriptures of the two most popular religions in Nigeria; Islam and Christianity. Marriage was not prescribed in order to primarily satisfy man’s sensual appetite but was instituted as a means of procreation which is the essence and the utmost object of marriage. The Prophet (SAW) said, “Marry and procreate for I will be proud of you among the whole nations on the Day of Judgment”. God states in the very first chapter of the holy Bible; Genesis: chapter 1 verse 28 “And God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…”.
The greatest fear of the proponents of birth control borders on economic motives. Nigerians expect President Jonathan to analyze the socio-economic challenges of the country from the perspective of the kind of governance orchestrated over the years by a crop of wicked leaders. Instead of advocating birth control measures for Nigerians as a way of tackling our those challenges, he should have proposed ways of improving upon the living conditions of Nigerians; guaranteeing unhindered access to primary health care, access to clean water at no cost, reducing poverty and providing jobs. We pray to Allah (SWT) to guide us against subscribing to any ideology (western or eastern) that contradicts divine principles, amin.
Ramadan Kareem:
This column greets all Muslims on the occasion of this year’s Ramadan fast that has just begun. May it be a remarkable spiritual period for Muslims to reinvigorate their relationship with Allah (SWT) and earn His mercy as He disposes of all the challenges bedeviling the country including corruption; injustice; poverty; unemployment; hopelessness; impatience; nepotism; bigotry; envy; mistrust caused by suspicion; greed; betrayal; drug peddling and addiction; exam malpractice; forgery; prostitution; abortion; brigandage; kidnapping; thuggery; cultism; election rigging; etc; amin.