TY  - JOUR
UR  - http://www.iiste.org
N2  - The discourse on demography, democracy and development issues is an inclusive one that focuses on the need to
create a human environment where the quality of life of the people is greatly enhanced. Today, the measurement
of progress on the development agenda, as encapsulated by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and
Human Development Index (HDI), goes beyond economic indicators (such as economic growth, per capita
income), to include both political and social indicators. This paper argues that the real challenge of development
in Africa is not the size of its population and/or resource endowments, but the poor management and
politicization of its demographic dynamics captured by census data as well as adopting economic and social
policies that ultimately leave the people far behind for whom development is meant. Furthermore, the paper
contends that the failure of political leaders and policy makers at all levels of governance in Nigeria to pay
adequate attention to the generation of quality demographic data, upon which relevant policy interventions and
decisions are framed to address the problems of poverty, inequality, fertility, mortality, youth unemployment and
illiteracy, negatively impact the chances for effective poverty reduction, infrastructural provision, security and
reproductive health. This paper concludes that for countries in Africa, particularly Nigeria, to attain the status of
a democratic developmental state and deliver on the much-anticipated 'demographic dividends', the leaders must
exercise the political will to invest massively in human capital and develop a reservoir of reliable demographic
data that will address the socioeconomic conditions of their citizens, including the monitoring and evaluation of
development plans and programs.
TI  - Demographic Dynamics and the Attainment of Democratic
Development: The Case of Nigeria
A1  - Egharevba, M. E.
A1  - Imhonopi, , David
AV  - public
SP  - 25
EP  - 37
JF  - Public Policy and Administration Research
KW  - Welfare
KW  -  Development
KW  -  Governance
KW  -  Census
KW  -  Population.
IS  - 12
ID  - eprints3673
Y1  - 2013///
SN  - 224-5731 (Paper) lSSN 2225-0972(0nline)
VL  - 3
ER  -