Niger’s President Blames ‘Misreading of Islam’
The President of Niger, in Africa, says a misreading of Islam is to blame for his country’s explosive birth rate. MahamadouIssoufouhas been trying to drive down his country’s birth rate of more than seven children per woman. He has advocated family planning and contraception in the 98% Muslim country, but says a simple misreading is the cause of the population problems. He told The Guardian: ‘If an educated person reads the Qur’an, it talks about responsible parenthood. Islam says you should only have children if you can take good care of them and properly educate them.’
Issoufou has faced resistance from some religious leaders for his views on contraception, but he fears the huge population growth combined with climate change could represent a real geopolitical problem. In 1990, Niger’s population stood at 8million, but by 2018, it had soared to 22.4million.Issoufou warned the population of Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, will double in 17 years and by 2050 it will have the second biggest population in Africa behind Nigeria. This population growth will be mirrored across Africa, creating a huge wave of migration into Europe, exacerbated by the changing climate which will cause droughts and flooding, he warns.
(Extracted from dailymail.co.uk)
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