Former Governor Ayo Fayose says darkness after 7pm is making Nigerians have more children. His logic: lack of rural electrification leads to early bedtimes, and early bedtimes lead to increased population.
Where and how did this man arrive at this unfounded assertion? With what statistics? With what research?
Population growth is not caused by blackout. It is caused by poverty, poor access to healthcare, low female education, cultural norms, and the absence of family planning services. You can have 24-hour light in a village and still have 8 children. You can have a city glowing till midnight and still have a fertility rate of 5.3.
This kind of statement reduces a serious national crisis to a punchline. Nigeria’s population is projected to hit 400 million by 2050. Our schools are overcrowded. Our hospitals are overstretched. Our jobs are not growing with our people. That is not because of NEPA. That is because of policy failure.
If Fayose wants to talk about electricity, let him talk data. 86 million Nigerians have no access to grid power. Rural SMEs die at 7pm. Students cannot read. Hospitals rely on diesel. That is the real cost of darkness.
But to blame darkness for childbirth is to insult the intelligence of Nigerians, especially rural women who bear the burden of both power cuts and population pressure.
Leaders must debate with facts, not folklore. Otherwise “all is fair in politics” will include “all is fair in analysis” too.
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