Linkage between population growth and sustainable development: legal and regulatory antidote

Abstract

This paper examines the linkage between population growth and sustainable development and various legal strategies introduced to achieve sustainable development in Nigeria. The paper adopted doctrinal analytical approach. The paper examines the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and various subordinate laws enacted in Nigeria to achieve sustainable development. Due to the negative impact which population growth has on the achievement of sustainable development, the paper examines the provisions of the population policy for sustainable development as well as the National Policy on the Environment. The paper argues that the ineffective implementation of population policy and various legal frameworks have inhibited the attainment of sustainable development in Nigeria. The paper concludes that the increasing rate of population growth has been a recurrent challenge to the achievement of sustainable development and therefore recommends the need for enactment of substantive law with sanctions for population control. The paper further recommends that the existing laws and policies on sustainable development should be enforced by relevant agencies, whilst the 1999 Constitution should be amended to make environmental objective part of human rights provisions.