CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Ìjùmú is a Local Government Area in Kogi State, north central Nigeria. Located at the latitude of
8° 1' 59" N and longitude of 5° 57' 0" E. Its headquarters are in the town of Iyara. Other towns in
the local government include Ayetoro Gbede, Iyah-Gbede, Ayegunle Gbede, Araromi Gbede,
Ayere, Ayeh Gbede, Okoro Gbede, Odokoro Gbede, Ekinrin-Adde, Egbeda Egga, Iyamoye,
Ogidi, Ikoyi, Otungba, Oton-Ade, Origa, and others. The people of Ìjùmú speak the Okun dialect
of the Yoruba language. The main occupation is farming among men, while women are engaged
in trade. Education is the major industry in Ìjùmú.It has an area of 1,306 km2 and a population of
119,929 as at 2006 census.
Religion is the belief that people have in supernatural being; it is embedded in the culture of any
society, irrespective of their geographical location or religion. Because of its importance, it
affects virtually all aspects of human endeavor such as decision, ideology and morality. There are
different types of religion such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism among others. These
different religions often have a united view on issues regarding family planning; some kick
against it as a result of their cultural background, while some practices are favoured by their
local customs.
The world population explosion has caused political leaders to look upon national and regional
birth control projects as vital. Support for regulation of individual fertility has been evident in all
cultures, and at all times, even in those societies in which social and religious rules have
favoured the abundant production of children.
Family planning is the decision to determine the number of children one wants to have, the
spacing and the age to have children or the decision not to have any. To end preventable deaths
during pregnancy and childbirth, family planning services serve this purpose. Through medical
and social activities internalized by sexually active individuals, the control/management of issues
of procreation, sexually transmitted diseases and infertility is addressed. Often time, this decision
is influenced by such factors as marital status, financial position, career, and belief system,
ethnicity, gender, age, amongst others. The practice of modern family planning services which
include, use of contraceptive, Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and family planning
programs, could prevent unwanted pregnancies leading to abortion, control unsustainable
population growth, prevents maternal deaths and infant mortality, prevents sexually transmitted
diseases, and empowering of people.
Awosusi (2018) posited that the growth rate of fertility, population growth and maternal death in
Nigeria is among the highest in the world. In our society, the problems of infant and maternal
mortality, over population, housing, unemployment, and starvation have gained the attention of
researchers with a view to finding solution to them (Fasiku, 2016). In other to solve all these
problems, it is pertinent to look for a way to stem the tide of this ever increasing population and
the best antidote to underscore manageable family size which will affect the entire population, is
through family planning. Family planning is simply a way of maintaining reasonable interval
limitation in child bearing process; it is a way of preventing unwanted pregnancy and a means of
sexual gratification (Fasiku, 2016). Family planning practices comprises of medical and social
activities which enable individuals or couples to determine freely the number and spacing of
their children and to select the means by which this may be achieved.
The level of education of women as well as that of their spouse has been reported to greatly
increase the probability of contraceptive use, a major factor affecting the current level of the use
of family planning methods in the state has been linked to the role of men in decisions on
pregnancy and childbirth. Although there have been reports to an increase in the use of
contraceptives in the state, mainly due to the trending economic hardship, the adoption level
notwithstanding is not proportional to the reported current rate of fertility in the country. This
project, therefore, sought to examine the religious impact i.e, the believe of the people
concerning family planning, the level of couples’ awareness and the influencing factors in the
access and utilization of family planning services among married couples in Ijumu local
government area of Kogi State, North Central Nigeria with a view to providing relevant data for
policy documents, interventions, and amongst others.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Nigeria is one of the countries in the continents of Africa. It is being referred to as giant of Africa
because of her population. Nigeria ever since early 20's has a serious population problems that
are universally recognized. The population of the country keeps on increasing in geometric rate
while food and other resources were increasing in an arithmetic rate. This excess population in a
way affects the standard of living of her citizens. More importantly, the population of the people
in North Central Nigeria is not exempted; there has been a steady increase of population growth
in the area in recent years. It has been observed that, the increase in population was associated
with some social problems such as food shortage, malnutrition, increase in crime rate, shortage
of social amenities, and unemployment, among others.
1.3 Objective of the study
To examine family planning through the community’s perception, belief system and religious
impact; in addition to identifying the determining factors for family planning uptake.
1.4 Research Questions
What is/are the believe of people of Ijumu local government and its environs?, as regard family
planning.
How do we control, plan and determine what happens in every family of the community?
How do we fight poverty in our community?
1.5 Significant of the study
To enlightened the communities of family planing as a way of controlling child bearing and
preventing /eliminating poverty in the community.
1.6 Scope and Limitations of the Study
 This study used exploratory methods of data collection to provide a better understanding
of family planning usage through the lens of the community.
 This study provided better insight into the impact of religious and cultural beliefs on
family planning uptake.
  The effects of intrapersonal, interpersonal and health system factors on family planning
uptake were also explored.
 This study was conducted among a limited number of participants from the community.
 It may be difficult to form a causal association in this study as a longitudinal study design
was not used and participants were not followed up.
1.7 Operational Definitions of Terms
A self-directed, cyclic process of problem identification and problem solving intended to fulfill
some technical purpose.