Chapter One: Introduction

Among the ten largest countries in the world, one is in Africa (Nigeria), five are in Asia (Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan), two are in Latin America (Brazil and Mexico), one is in Northern America (United States of America), and one is in Europe (Russian Federation). Amongst these, Nigeria’s population, currently the seventh largest in the world with over 180 million people (Wordlometers, 2016) is growing the most rapidly. Consequently, the population of Nigeria is projected to surpass that of the United States by about 2050, at which point it would become the third largest country in the world (UN, 2015 ). Family  planning  according  to United Nations  Population  Funds  Activities  (UNPFA  2001)  is  a  recognized  basic  human  right  and  enables individuals and couples to determine the number and spacing of their children.       The World Health Organization (WHO, 2013) stated that  family planning allows individuals and couples to  anticipate  and  attain  their  desired  number  of  children  and  the  spacing  and  timing  of  their  births.

Chapter Two: Literature Review

This chapter reviews literature on population growth, family planning and  the strategies of resolving population growth in Nigeria. Family planning according to United Nations Population Funds Activities (UNPFA 2001) is a recognized basic human right and enables individuals and couples to determine the number and spacing of their children. There is virtually not universally accepted theory on which a family planning research could be hinged. Nevertheless, people have approached the Problem using Health belief model by Rosen Stock et al and Theory of Reasoned Action by Fishbein and Ajzen.

Chapter Three: Research Methodology

This chapter deals with the methodology and the research instrument to be used in getting data for the study. This study uses descriptive survey type. The population comprised the entire families in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State. Sample sizes of 240 families were used for this study. 30 families were randomly drawn from each community using the simple random sampling techniques. Questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection. The t-test statistics was employed to test the hypotheses formulated for the study.

Chapter Four: Data Analysis

In this chapter, the researcher will analyse the data collected for the research work and interpret it according to the research hypotheses formulated in chapter one.

Chapter Five: Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations

Summary and conclusions are to be drawn from the research literature, research findings and data analysis. Recommendations on linking family planning and national development was made in the final chapter.

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