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Sex-starved nations where govt. beg their citizens to make love

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THOUGH, this might sound ridiculous, but do you know that there are countries where citizens are being begged by the government to have more sex? Have a look at the sex-starved nations. There are few things more important than fertility in determining a nation’s future viability. Demographers suggest that a country needs a fertility rate of just over two children per woman to hit “replacement fertility”, the rate at which new births fill the spaces left behind by deaths. But because of certain cultural and economic forces, only about half of the world’s 224 countries currently hit replacement fertility.

For those that don’t, they, however encourage people, particularly their citizens to have sex. It is also imperative to note that encouraging people to have sex can involve strategies that range from highly explicit to downright bizarre.

Check out  the list of such countries;

1 – Romania

The 1960s in Romania were a perilous time for couples. Population growth flatlined, prompting the government to impose a 20% income tax for childless couples and to implement provisions that made divorce nearly impossible. The idea was: If you weren’t contributing to the communist state by creating future laborers, you had to contribute with dollars instead. The 1980s weren’t much better, however — women faced forced gynecological exams that were performed by “demographic command units” to ensure pregnancies went to term. When Romanian leadership changed in 1989, the brutal policy finally came crashing down. But at 1.31 children per woman, the fertility rate is still well below replacement.

2 – Denmark

if you aren’t going to have a kid for your own family, Danes are told, atleast do it for Denmark. No, literally, do it for Denmark. The small Nordic country has such a low fertility rate of about 1.73 children per woman that spies, Rejser, a Danish travel company, has come up with ingenious incentives to persuade women to get pregnant. First, it offered to provide three years’ worth of baby supplies to couples who conceived on a vacation booked through the company. Now it has come up with a se’xy campaign video titled “Do it for Mom,” which guilt trips couples into having kids to give their precious mothers a grandchild.

3 – Russia

Vladimir Putin once brought Boyz II Men to Moscow to rile men up right before Valentine’s Day. Can anyone blame him? As Tech Insider recently reported, the country is experiencing a perfect demographic storm. Men are dying young. HIV/AIDS and alcoholism are crippling the country. And women aren’t having babies. The problem got so bad that in 2007 Russia declared September 12 the official Day of Conception. On the Day of Conception, people get the day off to focus on having kids. Women who give birth exactly nine months later, on June 12, win a refrigerator.

4 – Japan

Japan’s fertility rate has been below replacement since 1975. To offset that decades-long trend, in 2010 a group of students from the University of Tsukuba introduced Yotaro, a robot baby that gives couples a preview of parenthood. If men and women begin thinking of themselves as potential fathers and mothers, the students theorized, they’ll feel emotionally ready to take a stab at the real thing.

5 – Singapore

Singapore has the lowest fertility rate in the world, at just 0.81 children per woman. On August 9, 2012, the Singaporean government held National Night, an event sponsored by the breath-mint company Mentos, to encourage couples to “let their patriotism explode.” The country has also placed a limit on the number of small one-bedroom apartments available for rent to encourage people to live together and, presumably, procreate. Each year the government spends roughly $1.6 billion on programs to get people to have more sex.

6 – South Korea

On the third Wednesday of every month, South Korean offices shut their lights off at 7 p.m. It’s known as Family Day. With a fertility rate of just 1.25 children per woman, the country takes any steps it can to promote family life — even offering cash incentives to people who have more than one child.

7 – India

India as a whole has no problem with fertility — the country’s ratio of 2.48 children per woman is well above replacement. But the number of people in India’s Parsis community is dwindling — it shrank from roughly 114,000 people in 1941 to just 61,000 in 2001, according to the 2001 census.
That problem led to a series of provocative ads in 2014, including one that read “Be responsible — don’t use a condom tonight.” Another, geared toward men who lived at home, asked, “Isn’t it time you broke up with your Mum?” The ads seem to be working: By the latest measure, the population has inched back to 69,000.

8 – Italy

With a fertility rate of 1.43 — well below the European average of 1.58 — Italy has taken a controversial approach to encourage citizens to have more kids. As Bloomberg reports, the country has been running a series of ads reminding Italians that time might be running out and that kids don’t just come from nowhere. “Beauty knows no age, fertility does,” one ad said. “Get going! Don’t wait for the stork,” another said. Couples haven’t responded positively to the guilt trip. Francesco Daveri, a professor of economics at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, has called the ads a failure.

9 – Hong Kong

With a fertility rate of just 1.18 children per woman, Hong Kong faces the same challenge as many industrialized countries: Without enough young people to replace aging citizens, populations are dwindling and economic growth is slowing. In 2013, the country proposed giving cash handouts to couples to encourage them to have kids. The idea took its cue from Singapore, where parents receive a “baby bonus” of about $4,400 for their first two children and $5,900 for their third and fourth. But in Hong Kong, the plan never came to life.

10 – Spain

Funny couple in bed

Fertility rates in Spain are creeping downward while unemployment is rising: About half of all young people don’t have a job. It’s the second-highest rate in Europe, behind Greece.

To combat the worrying trends, the Spanish government hired a special commissioner, Edelmira Barreira, in January 2017. Her first tasks are finding the myriad causes of the trend and devising macro strategies to reverse it . “We have a lot of work ahead of us,” Barreira told the Spanish newspaper Faro De Vigo. Source: Pocket News

 

This article originally appeared on Eagle Headline

 

 

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Presidency Backs World PR Forum, Onanuga Urges Better Nigeria Image

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The Presidency has thrown its weight behind the 2026 World Public Relations Forum scheduled to hold in Abuja from November 15 to 21.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, gave the assurance on Wednesday when the planning committee of the forum visited him at the State House, Abuja.

The delegation was led by the President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Dr Ike Neliaku.
The forum, which has the theme,

“Deepening Responsible Communications,” is expected to attract about 3,000 delegates from 126 countries.
Onanuga said the hosting of the global event was a major opportunity for Nigeria to showcase its culture and present the country’s story to the international community.

He, however, expressed concern about the negative picture of Nigeria often presented by some Nigerians, especially on social media.

According to him, the forum should be used to correct misconceptions about the country and give foreign visitors a better understanding of Nigeria.

“You see, as a Nigerian, I always feel very odd when you read online the kind of things our people put out in the public space. They say negative things about this country,” Onanuga said.

He added, “This is a great opportunity for us to correct those things of concern to people. For me, I’ve seen the conference as something that will be good for our country, and it should be supported.”

Earlier, Neliaku said the delegation visited Onanuga to seek the support of the Presidency for the successful hosting of the forum.

He said Nigeria was the first African country to secure the hosting rights, adding that the event would provide an opportunity to showcase the country’s rich cultural heritage.

Neliaku noted that Mexico, India and Germany had hosted the forum at different times.

He disclosed that participants at the Abuja event would sign an agreement to be known as the “Abuja Declaration.”

The NIPR president also announced that the President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, would deliver the keynote address at the forum.

He added that President Bola Tinubu would receive a Lifetime Award of Excellence in Reforms during the event.

The Chairman of the Planning Committee, Dr Suleiman Haruna, said preparations were already in top gear.
Haruna said the committee was working with media organisations and security agencies to ensure a successful hosting of the delegates.

Also speaking, a member of the committee and Director-General of Strategic Communications to the Nasarawa State Government, Yakubu Lamai, disclosed that the state government was building a Public Relations University.

He said the project was part of efforts to strengthen the public relations profession and boost confidence in Nigeria among international participants.

A veteran broadcaster and member of the delegation, Moji Makanjuola, said the forum would be inclusive, with women and persons with disabilities adequately represented.

Makanjuola appealed to the Presidency to support the event, stressing that Nigeria must be ready to receive participants from around the world.

“We have to be ready as Nigerians to receive the world; it is a Nigerian thing, it is not for the Ministry,” she said.

The World Public Relations Forum is expected to bring together public relations practitioners, communication experts, policymakers and other stakeholders from across the world to discuss responsible communication and the future of the profession.

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FG adds 208MW to national grid, upgrades Ijora, Apapa substations

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The Federal Government has commissioned upgraded transmission substations at Ijora and Apapa Road in Lagos, adding a combined 208 megawatts of bulk transmission capacity to the national grid.

The projects, inaugurated by the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, are expected to boost electricity supply to major industrial, commercial and residential areas across Lagos.

At the Ijora 132/33kV transmission substation, two new 100MVA transformers have raised the installed capacity from 90MVA to 230MVA, providing an additional 112MW of bulk transmission capacity.

The upgrade is expected to improve power supply to Ijora, Costain, Oyingbo, Customs and adjoining communities within the franchise area of the Eko Electricity Distribution Company.

At the Apapa Road transmission substation, two new 60MVA transformers and modern Gas Insulated Switchgear were installed and energised, increasing the facility’s capacity from 60MVA to 180MVA and adding another 96MW to the transmission network.

The Apapa project is considered particularly important because the area hosts major ports, maritime businesses, logistics companies, warehouses and manufacturing industries. The additional capacity is expected to increase the bulk electricity available to EKEDC for distribution to Apapa Causeway, Ijora, Amukoko, Ajegunle, Apapa Wharf, Tin Can Island and surrounding communities.

Speaking at the commissioning, Tegbe said the projects were part of the Federal Government’s efforts to tackle structural challenges in the nation’s electricity sector.

He said expanding transmission capacity was essential to ensuring that electricity generated was effectively delivered to areas where demand was highest.

According to him, rapid population growth, industrial expansion and increased commercial activities had put considerable pressure on existing power infrastructure, resulting in suppressed load and constrained electricity supply.

Tegbe said reliable electricity remained central to Nigeria’s economic transformation, adding that the administration’s ambition of building a $1tn economy could not be achieved without adequate and dependable power supply.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, described the projects as a significant investment in strengthening the country’s transmission network. He said the Apapa project was supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, while the Ijora intervention received support from the World Bank in partnership with TCN.

Abdulaziz called for similar interventions to rehabilitate and upgrade other critical sections of the national transmission network. He said continued investment in the network was necessary to ensure that improvements in power generation translated into better supply for homes and businesses.

The Federal Government said the additional 208MW would improve grid stability and strengthen electricity supply to some of Lagos’ most important commercial and industrial corridors, with the projects expected to support businesses and communities that depend heavily on reliable power.

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Nasarawa, firm sign $2m lithium deal

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Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, on Friday presided over the signing of a $2m supplementary lithium agreement between the state government and Diamond New Energy.

The agreement, signed at the Nasarawa State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja, followed Sule’s recent visit to China and is aimed at securing raw materials for the company’s lithium processing operations in the state.

Speaking at the ceremony, Sule said the agreement would protect the interests of both the state and the company while ensuring that the factory remained operational and workers retained their jobs.

He said, “By keeping your factory operational, we ensure that you continue to get raw material. That is the essence of this agreement.”

The governor added that the state’s decision to secure the necessary licence was also intended to protect its interests in the mining operations.

“We are going to keep your factory functional, and we also have an interest as licence owners in whatever you are doing in your company. More importantly, the people you have employed will remain employed,” Sule said.

The governor urged Diamond New Energy to maintain a peaceful relationship with its host communities and contribute to their development, stressing that the cooperation of the communities was important to the success of the investment.

He further disclosed that payments due to the state under the agreement would be made directly to Nasarawa Mining Company Limited in foreign currency, with the terms subject to periodic review.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Margaret Elayo, commended the investors for their commitment to Nasarawa State.

Elayo expressed optimism that the partnership would encourage more investors to consider the state as a destination for mineral development and other investments.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nasarawa State Investment Development Agency, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said the latest agreement was an extension of the exclusive mining cooperation agreement signed between the state government and the company in 2024.

According to him, the earlier agreement contributed to the completion of what he described as the largest lithium processing refinery in West Africa.

He said the supplementary agreement would further strengthen investor confidence and allow the continued supply of lithium materials from the state government’s mining block to the refinery.

Abdullahi said the arrangement would also create more employment opportunities for youths and women in the state.

“This supplementary agreement gives credence to these issues. It further gives confidence to the investor to do even more within Nasarawa State,” he said.

He added that the agreement would provide an immediate financial benefit to the state, with Nasarawa expected to receive $2m upon signing, while further revenues would accrue according to the terms of the agreement.

A representative of Diamond New Energy, David Siong, said the company remained committed to deepening its operations in Nasarawa State through local processing of mineral resources, job creation and economic development.

Siong said the company believed in the further development and deep processing of Nasarawa’s mineral resources, adding that it looked forward to continued support from the state government.

Also at the ceremony, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Isaac Danladi, presented copies of the deed of assignment between Nasarawa Mining Company Limited and Ganfeng Lithium Industry Limited.

Danladi explained that the deed transferred the mining rights and interests of Nasarawa Mining Company within 3.5 mining cadastral units located at Endo, Nasarawa Local Government Area, to Ganfeng Lithium Industry Limited.

He said the transfer followed a review of the terms by the parties involved.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by officials of the state Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, NASIDA, Diamond New Energy and Ganfeng Lithium Industry Limited.

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