




































 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ATTITUDE OF MUSLIM MEN TOWARDS 

FAMILY PLANNING IN BORNO STATE 

 
Yagana M. Aji and Babatunji A. Omotara 



European Journal of Human Resource  

ISSN 2520-4696 (Online)     

Vol.3, Issue 1 No.1, pp 1 - 14, 2018                                                       www.ajpojournals.org 

  

ATTITUDE OF MUSLIM MEN TOWARDS FAMILY PLANNING 

IN BORNO STATE 

 

1*
Yagana M. Aji, PhD 

Senior Lecturer, University of Maiduguri 

*yasmaaji@gmail.com 

 
2
Babatunji A. Omotara, PhD, FRSH, FFPH 

Professor, University of Maiduguri 

 

Abstract 

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine those socio-economic variables that have the 

most impact on attitude towards family planning among married Muslim men in Borno state, 

Northeast Nigeria. This is because the attitude of husbands is key to the practice of family 

planning due to their decision making roles in the family set up. Studies have revealed that 

attitude of males towards family planning in Sub-Saharan Africa is not encouraging. Therefore 

determining the variables that affect attitude of males towards family planning is important in 

improving family planning programme success. 

Methodology: Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to collect information for 

this study. The qualitative technique involved the use of Focus group Discussions. A total of 12 

sessions of FGDs were conducted in three purposively selected Local Government areas. For the 

interview schedule, eight local government areas were randomly selected based on geographic 

location and cross sectional survey was used to collect the quantitative data. Four villages in each 

local government area were randomly selected plus the state capital. A total of 475 married 

Muslim men were interviewed using the systematic random sampling method 

Findings: The result of the study showed that the attitude of married Muslim men towards 

family planning is mainly negative because of the belief that Islam is against family planning. 

However, people with western education, younger husbands and the Babur/Bura ethnic group 

have more favourable attitude than other groups. Factors found to be most responsible for 

negative attitude are religion (96%), rural residency (93%) and low literacy level (92%). 

However, the most outstanding factor among all sub-groups is socioeconomic insecurity. 

Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: Better economic conditions and more 

education are shown to ameliorate attitude towards FP in spite of religious beliefs as seen in this 

study. Improving on these two factors and providing health education that is culture and religion 

specific targeted at males will help in making the males to be more receptive. Messages should 

include the consequences of closely spaced pregnancy on the mother and child 

 

Keywords: Family planning, Northeast Nigeria, attitude of Muslim men. 

 

 

 

 

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INTRODUCTION 

Family planning (FP) is one of the factors that reduce high maternal mortality attributed 

to high birth rates among others. According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2012) 

there is a high risk of maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa because of high birth rates which 

could be reduced by practicing family planning. It was estimated that 56% of all maternal deaths 

occurred in Africa in 2010 because millions of women in developing countries do not plan their 

families (WHO, 2012) mainly due to: deficiency in knowledge, husband’s disapproval, fear of 

side effects, in-affordability or inaccessibility of family planning services, religious prohibition, 

deficiency and incompetence of family planning workers and limited supply (Bruce, 1990; Iyer, 

2002). According to Stephenson and Hennink (2004) community level barriers such as social and 

cultural characteristics and lack of infrastructure in providing health care services could be added 

to the individual level barriers. 

In the early 1970s African leaders were not ready to accept Family Planning for various 

reasons. Some of these reasons were the belief by African governments that there is vast land in 

Africa that needs to be peopled. Another reason among others is mistrust of the motives behind 

the propaganda on population control by the West. African governments thought that it was a 

ploy by Western nations to decrease the population of the black race (Sai, 1989). It was later in 

the late 70s and early 80s that governments of African countries got to accept family planning 

and population control measures as necessary for development policies. In 1988 a national 

population policy was approved by the Federal government of Nigeria. One of the goals of the 

national population policy was:“…to achieve lower population growth rates through reduction of 

birth rates by voluntary fertility regulation methods that are compatible with the attainment of 

economic and social goals of the nation” (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1988, pp. 12).  

Men have strong influence on family decisions which includes family planning that 

makes their attitude towards it to be very important. That was why this research sought to 

determine their attitude towards family planning in the study area. The specific objectives were 

to determine the influence of various socio-economic variables on attitude of males towards 

family planning. The variables are education, age, ethnicity, area of residence, and practice of 

polygamy. Men’s approval of FP against these variables will reveal which ones have more 

influence. The attitude is important because it has influence on practice (NPC Nigeria and ICF 

Macro, 2013). This study was carried out before the onset of insurgency in the state. 

LITERATURE REVIEW 

In the 80s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) for Nigeria was 6.34 and the marital fertility rate of 

7.48. More than two decades later, in 1996 the TFR for Nigeria barely changed to 6 children per 

woman and 5.6 in 2013 (Population Reference Bureau, 1996; NPC Nigeria and ICF Macro, 

2013). In 1996 the level of family planning in Nigeria among married women was six percent for 

all types of family planning methods and 4% for modern types according to the Population 

Reference Bureau, 1996. By 2013, practice of family planning in Nigeria had increased to 15% 

but it stood at three percent in the Northeast (NPC Nigeria & ICF Macro, 2013). 

This research was conducted in Borno State, in the Northeastern part of Nigeria, mostly 

inhabited by Muslims. Borno State has a long history of Islamic belief and culture and the 

predominant ethnic group is Kanuri. Ordinarily, the average Muslim citizen in Borno believes 

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that family planning is a ploy by Western nations to reduce the Muslim population in the world. 

This belief is not restricted to the rural people alone. Urban residents as well as, highly educated 

and well placed Muslims also believe it to be so (Aliyu, 1992; Sada, 1993; Ahmed & Demba, 

1994; Baig, 1994; Liagin, 1996; Cook & Maine, 1991). 

There is a linkage between a family’s socioeconomic characteristics, attitudes and 

practice of family planning (FP). It is common knowledge that among patriarchal societies, main 

decisions including those concerning the family are taken by men. For instance, a woman cannot 

decide to practice family planning even if she is motivated to do so, unless she obtains her 

husband’s consent. The final decision rests with the husband in most cases as reported in many 

studies on family planning in developing countries (Orubuloye & Caldwell, 1994; Roudi and 

Ashford, 1996).) 

Therefore men’s attitude towards family planning and their willingness to adopt greatly 

affects practice. Studies carried out in Northern Nigeria and Ethiopia suggest that there is high 

knowledge of family planning but negative attitude toward practice of family which has led to 

low contraceptive use (Duze & Mohammed, 2006; Tilahun et al, 2013). This indicates that 

attitude of males to family planning is important to practice. That is the reason success rate of 

family planning programmes is limited because they mainly focus on women who are not the 

decision makers (Tilahun et al, 2013). 

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 

In this study the Theory of Planned Bahaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 2012) is applied to explain 

what determines fertility intentions. This will help clarify the socio-psychological processes 

involved in forming the intention to have a child or not which could affect attitude towards FP. 

According to the theory, intention is governed by three kinds of considerations. The first 

consideration is behavioral beliefs which are a person’s beliefs and values which make him/her 

want to do something or not based on perceived positive or negative consequences of the thing in 

question which in this case is FP. The second consideration is the attitude of a person’s 

immediate social environment constituted by a person’s partner, friends and family. This is 

called normative beliefs or subjective norms which produce the perceived social pressure on the 

person to comply with those individuals. The third consideration is known as perceived control 

which is the resources or obstacles that can facilitate or hinder the action that needs to be taken.  

The Theory of Planned Bahaviour applied in this research suggests that the attitude of a 

man towards FP will be influenced by the man’s beliefs and values, as well as the social pressure 

from his immediate family and community and the resources and obstacles at his disposal to go 

through with the intention to practice or not practice FP. A man’s belief system which govern his 

behavior towards his family, gender relations and life values; and his willingness to comply with 

the norms around him determine how he acts and reacts to situations and issues of importance. 

Similarly resources or obstacles can go a long way to facilitate or hinder intentions. Therefore 

the TPB is applied to show that a man’s attitude towards family planning is a result of these three 

factors. 

METHODOLOGY 

 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and cross sectional survey by the administration of 

individual interview schedules were used to collect the necessary data for this study. A total of 

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European Journal of Human Resource  

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Vol.3, Issue 1 No.1, pp 1 - 14, 2018                                                       www.ajpojournals.org 

  

12 sessions of FGDs were conducted in three purposively selected Local Government 

areas(LGAs) which include Maiduguri metropolis, the state capital, one from southern Bornoand 

another from northern Borno. This selection was done to give a representation to all three 

Senatorial districts, as well as to urban, semi-urban and rural settings. The focus groups consist 

of six groups of eight to ten persons each of younger (<30 yrs) and older (>30 yrs) married 

Muslim men.  

 The FGDs were conducted under conducive atmosphere in the various selected study 

areas. Each session lasted for about 45 minutes and was recorded for transcription. Both 

moderator and note taker were male to allow free atmosphere for discussion. The issues for the 

FGDs were knowledge of family planning, attitude towards family planning, and the practice of 

family planning. However, this paper focuses only on the attitudinal aspect of family planning. 

 For the interview schedule, eight local government areas were randomly selected based 

on geographic location (Gubio, Magumeri, Gwoza, Damboa, Ngala, Dikwa, Maiduguri and 

Konduga). Local government administrative staff and University students were trained to 

administer the instrument, which was adapted with some modifications from the National 

Demographic Health Survey 2008 questionnaire for the collection of quantitative data. 

 Four villages in each local government area were randomly selected. In addition to that, 

the local government headquarters and the state capital, which represented the semi-urban and 

urban areas respectively, were also included. A total of 475 married Muslim men were 

interviewed using the systematic random sampling method. The data was analysed using the 

Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).  

RESULTS 

Focus Group Discussions 

 Generally, the attitude of the males is negative toward family planning. Most of them 

insist that the family planning programme is a conspiracy between the government and the white 

man. As one participant in Maiduguri puts it, “it was the white man who felt that people here are 

becoming too many and they want to reduce them. We were told that family planning is the white 

man’s conspiracy, so we don’t accept it”. A summary of their attitudes is as follows: 

1. Educated and enlightened women discuss family planning with their husbands, but 

illiterate and ignorant women are shy to do so. 

2. Family planning can be openly discussed among males, but most are against it. 

3. The number of children to have is Allah’s business and to specify a certain number 

amounts to interfering in Allah’s affairs. 

4. A male child is preferred because he will always be by his father’s side and he can 

carry on the family name and look after the family when the father dies. 

5. The female child is not liked because she deserts her parents after marriage, it is 

costly to get them married, and can bring shame on her parents should she get 

pregnant before marriage. 

6. Practice of family planning is associated with the urban elite, schoolgirls and 

prostitutes. 

7. Men can use condom as protection against infection when sleeping with a prostitute, 

but not with their wives. 

 

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Quantitative Data 

 The attitude of Muslim men towards family planning was examined using five variables 

that could affect attitude: these include level of education, age, ethnic group, residential area and 

number of wives. 

Attitude to Family Planning and Education 

 Table 1 shows the relationship between respondent’s educational level and attitude 

towards FP. The result indicates that the number of males who generally disapprove of FP 

decreased as the level of Western education increased.  

 

Table 1: Attitude towards FP among Men of Different Educational Levels 

 

 

 

Variables indicating attitude 

Educational Levels 

No formal 

education 

N = 104 

 

Quranic 

Education 

 

N = 147 

Primary 

Education 

 

N = 35 

Secondary 

Education 

 

N = 50 

Tertiary 

 

 

N = 94 

 

 

 

Disapprove of FP 

Freq.   

(%) 

 

Freq. (%) Freq. (%) Freq.   (%) Freq.(%) 

 

89   (85.6) 

 

128 (87.1) 

 

30  (85.7) 

 

39  (78.0) 

 

65 (69.1) 

 

Do not intend to practice FP in future 

 

96   (92.3) 

 

126 (85.7) 

 

29  (82.9) 

 

39  (78.0) 

 

66 (70.2) 

Those who have never discussed FP 

with wife(s) 

 

99   (95.2) 

 

133 (90.5) 

 

32  (91.4) 

 

45  (90.0) 

 

71 (75.5) 

Major Reasons for not practicing FP: 

 Want more children 

 Against religious 

beliefs 

 

 

70   (67.3) 

16   (15.4) 

 

 

41   (27.9) 

73   (49.7) 

 

 

14   (40.0) 

14   (40.0) 

 

 

14  (28.0) 

22  (44.0) 

 

 

22 (23.4) 

50 (53.2) 

Major Reasons for wanting to have 

more children. 

 Need to provide care 

in old age 

 Religion prohibits 

child limitation 

 

 

43   (41.3) 

 

32   (30.8) 

 

 

54   (36.7) 

 

50   (34.0) 

 

 

16   (45.7) 

 

10   (28.6) 

 

 

21  (40.0) 

 

16  (32.0) 

 

 

30 (31.9) 

 

43 (45.7) 

 

Never tried to practice FP 

 

96   (92.3) 

 

138 (96.5) 

 

33   (94.3) 

 

43  (86.0) 

 

76(80.9) 

It is left to God to give male or 

Female children 

92   (88.5) 

 

124 (93.9) 29   (82.9) 40  (80.0) 78(83.0) 

Those who do not approve of their 

wife(s) working outside the house 

 

79   (76.0) 

 

121 (82.3) 

 

24   (68.6) 

 

30  (60.0) 

 

55(58.5) 

 

Those with Quranic education recorded the highest level of disapproval of FP (87.1%). The 

percentage of respondents who do not intend to plan their families in future decreased steadily 

from those with no education to those with tertiary education. The proportion of those who never 

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European Journal of Human Resource  

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Vol.3, Issue 1 No.1, pp 1 - 14, 2018                                                       www.ajpojournals.org 

  

discussed FP with their wives was highest among people with no formal education (95.2%) and 

decreased steadily with increase in level of education. 

 Reasons for not practicing FP are varied. They include disapproval by wife, lack of 

knowledge, desire to have more children, opposed to family planning, against religious beliefs, 

costs too much, infrequent sex, health reasons, methods are not effective, difficult to use and 

hard to get. But out of all these, the most frequently given reasons are that, they want more 

children or it is against religious beliefs. The highest percentage of people who want more 

children was observed among those without formal education (67.3%). Those with tertiary 

education (53.2%) gave religion as the most common reason for not practicing FP. The 

proportion of people that never tried to plan their families was highest among people with only 

Quranic education followed by those who have primary education and decreased as level of 

education increased. 

 Respondents were further probed to give reasons for wanting to have more children. The 

various answers include not having enough children, to carry on the family name, need to help 

with house work, need to provide care during old age; religion prohibits child limitation, etc. The 

most popular reason was the need to provide care in old age. Approval of work by wife outside 

the house is included to give an indication of a man’s attitude towards his wife. Disapproval 

decreased steadily from those without to those with Western formal education. The highest level 

of disapproval was observed among males with onlyQuranic education (82.3%). To find out 

whether preference for sons was also a driving factor in the desire for large families, most of the 

respondents replied that they are indifferent as, it is God’s will to give them whichever sex. The 

highest response comes from those with Quranic education (93.9%) followed by those with no 

education at all (88.5%) and decreased with increase in education. 

Attitude towards Family Planning and Age 

 The men were classified into two groups. Men aged 30 years and below (young 

husbands) and those above 30 years (older husbands). The level of disapproval of FP is high 

among both groups as shown in Table 2.  

Table 2: Attitude towards FP among Men of Different Age Groups 

 

Variables showing attitude 

Age Groups of Men 

30 and below 

N = 80 

Age above 30 

N = 388 

 

Disapprove of FP 

Freq.      ( %) Freq.     (% ) 

65        (81.3) 316      (81.4) 

No intention to practice FP in future 60        (75.0) 335      (86.3) 

Those who have never discussed FP with wife(s) 73        (91.3) 341      (87.9) 

Major reasons for not practicing FP: 

 Wants more children 

 Against religious beliefs 

 

29        (36.3) 

41        (51.3) 

 

153     (39.4) 

145     (37.4) 

Major Reasons for wanting to have more children. 

 Need to provide care in old age 

 Religion prohibits child limitation 

 

41       (26.3) 

40        (50.0) 

 

157      (40.5) 

122      (31.4) 

Never tried to practice FP 76        (95.0) 345     (88.9) 

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It is left to God to give male or Female children 63        (78.8) 327     (84.3) 

Those who do not approve of their wife(s) working 

outside the house 

46        (57.5) 265     (68.3) 

 

So also was lack of intention to plan their families in future. This attitude was however, higher 

among older men (86.3%) (Table2). Their reasons for not planning their family are mainly desire 

for more children, which is higher among older men (39.4%) and against religious beliefs which 

is higher among younger men (51.3%). Major reasons for wanting to have more children are; 

need to provide care in old age which is higher among older men (40.5%) and religion which is 

higher among younger men (9.0%). Fewer younger men disapprove of their wife working 

outside the home (57.5%) than the older men (68.3%). 

Ethnic Group and Male Attitude towards Family Planning 

 Table 3 shows that the major ethnic groups in the state are Kanuri, Shuwa, Hausa and 

Babur/Bura, even though the predominant ethnic group was Kanuri (71% of respondents). In 

order to explore the influence of ethnicity on attitude towards FP, the respondents were 

categorized according to ethnic groups. General disapproval of FP is highest among the Kanuri 

(86.1%) followed by the Shuwa (84.6%). Those who have no intention to practice family 

planning are consistently highest among the Kanuri (89.9%) and lowest among Babur/Bura 

(54.5%). Also those who never tried to plan their family are lowest among the Babur/Bura 

people (66.7%). 

 

 

Table 3: Attitude of Various Ethnic Groups Towards 

 

 

Attitudinal variables of Different 

Ethnic Group 

Different Ethnic Groups 

Kanuri Shuwa Hausa Babur/Bura 

N = 338 N = 13 N = 36 N =66 

Freq.   (%)    

 

Freq.   (%) Freq.   (%) Freq.   (%) 

Disapprove of FP 291  (86.1) 11  (84.6) 28  (77.8) 37  (56.1) 

Do not intend to practice FP in future 304  (89.9) 10  (76.9) 31  (86.1) 36  (54.5) 

Have never discussed FP with wife(s) 319 (94.4) 10  (76.9) 29  (80.6)    43  (65.2) 

Major Reasons for not practicing FP: 

 Want more children 

 Against religious beliefs 

 

  157 (46.4) 

  124 (36.7) 

 

    4  (30.8) 

7  (53.8) 

 

   6(16.7)     

24 (66.7) 

 

  15  (22.7)    

  11  (16.7) 

Major Reasons for wanting to have 

more children. 

 Need to provide care in 

old age 

 Religion prohibits child 

limitation 

 

 

126 (37.3) 

 

118 (34.9) 

 

 

8   (61.5) 

 

3   (23.8) 

 

 

 

7   (19.4) 

 

20  (55.6) 

 

 

20  (30.3) 

 

14  (21.2) 

Never tried to practice FP: 319  (94.4) 11  (84.6) 33  (91.7) 44  (66.7) 

It is left to God to give male or Female     

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children 291  (86.1) 12   (92.3) 29  (80.6) 46  (69.7) 

Disapprove of wife work outside the 

house. 

 

261  (77.2) 

 

10   (76.9) 

 

30  (83.3) 

 

48  (72.7) 

 

 

 The majority of males who have never discussed family planning with wives are the 

Kanuri (94.4%) and the least are Babur/Bura (65.2%). Their major reasons for not practicing FP 

are mainly because they want more children or because of religious beliefs. On why they wanted 

more children the major reasons were, need to provide care during old age and religion. Except 

among the Hausa, the need for care during old age overrides the religious belief as a reason. 

 Disapproval of work outside the house is lowest among the Babur/ Bura. The most 

favourable attitude towards FP appears to be among this group. 

 

Attitude towards Family Planning by Residence 

 In the sample population, there are three categories of residential areas: villages, local 

government area headquarters which are semi-urban and the state capital, which is urban. Table 

4 shows that the level of disapproval of FP is highest among rural men (83.5%), lack of intention 

to practice family planning in the future was highest among semi urban men (94.3%). The least 

is recorded for urban residents. Those who never tried to plan their families are highest in the 

rural areas and lowest in the urban areas. Non communication with wife regarding family 

planning is also highest amongst rural men. 

 

Table 4: Attitude towards FP and Residence 

 

 

 

Attitudinal variables 

Residence of Respondents 

Rural Semi-Urban Urban 

N = 254 N = 141 N = 46 

Freq.   (%) Freq.     (%) Freq.  (%) 

Disapprove of FP 212   (83.5) 110    (78.0) 37    (80.4) 

No intention to practice FP in the future  

222   (87.4) 

 

133    (94.3) 

 

38    (82.6) 

Those who have never discussed FP with 

wife(s) 

 

235   (74) 

 

120    (85.1) 

 

38    (82.6) 

Major reasons for not practicing FP: 

 Wants more children: 

 Against religious beliefs 

 

122   

(48.0)85     

(33.5) 

 

46      (32.6) 

62      (43.4) 

 

6      (15.0) 

25    (62.5) 

Major reasons for wanting to have more 

children: 

 Need to provide care in old 

age: 

 Religion prohibits child 

limitation. 

 

 

133   (52.4) 

 

79     (31.0) 

 

 

47      (33.4) 

 

54      (38.3) 

 

 

6      (13.0) 

 

18    (39.1) 

Never tried to practice FP 237    (93.3) 122    (86.5) 39    (84.8) 

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It is left to God to give male or female 

children 

 

210    (82.7) 

 

124    (87.9) 

 

34    (73.9) 

Those who do not approve of their wife(s) 

working outside the house 

 

178    (70.1) 

 

85      (60.3) 

 

28    (60.9) 

Major reasons for not practicing family planning are: desire for more children (48%) and religion 

(33.5%) among rural men. For the semi-urban and urban areas, religious beliefs take precedence 

over need for more children. 

 Reasons for wanting more children are: need to provide care during old age which 

decreases with urbanization while religion as a reason increases with urbanization. All the 

variables indicate that urbanization has a positive effect on men’s attitude towards FP. 

 

Attitude of Men towards Family Planning and Number of Wives 

 About 48% of the respondents have one wife at the time of interview, while the rest have 

more than one wife each. Those with the highest level of disapproval of FP are men with 3 

wives. Lack of intention to plan the family in the future is highest among men with two wives 

(Table 5). None of the variables revealed any relationship between, number of wives and attitude 

to FP except in the case of disapproval of work by wives that steadily increased as the number of 

wives increased. In view of this, no conclusive statement could be made regarding the effect of 

number of wives a man has and his attitude towards family planning. 

Table 5: Attitude of Men to FP in Relation to their Number of Wives 

 

 

Variables Depicting Attitude 

Number of Wives 

1 2 3 4 

N =227 N = 180 N = 40 N = 28 

Freq.  (%) 

 

Freq.  (%) 

 

Freq. (%) 

 

Freq.  (%) 

 

Disapprove of FP 188  (82.8) 141   (78.3) 34   (85.0) 22   (78.6) 

Do not intend to practice FP in future  

183  (82.8) 

 

155   (86.1) 

 

36   (50.0) 

 

23   (82.1) 

Those who have never discussed FP 

with wife(s) 

 

198  (87.2) 

 

162   (90.0) 

 

35   (87.5) 

 

24   (85.7) 

Major reasons for not practicing FP: 

 Want more children 

 Against religious beliefs 

 

92   (40.5) 

85   (37.4) 

 

 

68   (37.7) 

73   (40.5) 

 

16   (40.0) 

16  (40.0) 

 

7     (25.0) 

15   (53.6) 

Major Reasons for wanting to have 

more children. 

 Need to provide care in 

old age 

 Religion prohibits child 

limitation 

 

 

81   (35.7) 

 

85   (37.4) 

 

 

74   (41.1) 

 

52   (28.9) 

 

 

12   (30.0) 

 

19   (47.5) 

 

 

14   (50.0) 

 

7     (25.0) 

Never tried to practice FP 198  (87.2) 167   (92.8) 37   (92.5) 24   (85.7) 

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It is left to God to give male or Female 

children 

179  (78.9) 156   (86.7) 34   (85.0) 26   (92.9) 

Those who do not approve of their 

wife(s) working outside the house. 

 

147  (64.8) 

 

119   (66.1) 

 

29   (72.5) 

 

21   (75.0) 

 

DISCUSSION 

The findings of this study indicate that there is a general negative attitude towards FP. 

However, a breakdown shows that the attitude of Muslim men towards family planning as 

reported in other studies such as Roudi and Ashford (1996) is mainly negative. But on the whole, 

men with Quranic education are the most conservative as would be expected because of the 

belief that Islam is against family planning. People with western education are more favourably 

disposed than others as found in other studies (Underwood, 2000). The higher the level of 

education, the less negative the attitude. Younger men (<30 years) also have less negative 

attitude than older men (>30 years). This may indicate that, the new generation of Muslim men is 

becoming more receptive to the issue of family planning. 

 The attitude of males by their ethnic group shows that the Kanuri and Fulani have the 

most negative attitude while the Babur/Burahave the most positive attitude. The Babur/Bura who 

come from the southern part of the state have had longer contact with Western education and 

have higher Western literacy levels as observed by Akpede, Omotara and Gazali (1995). This 

could be responsible for their receptive attitude towards family planning. Urbanization has also 

been found to have a neutralizing effect on negative attitude because the level of disapproval 

decreases with urbanization. The difference between the rural and urban men is that, rural men 

want more children to provide security in old age, while urban dwellers want more children 

because religion prohibits child limitation. Economic reasons take precedence in the rural areas 

while religious influence is more important in urban areas presumably because of higher 

religious awareness. No relationship could be established between number of wives and 

attitudes towards family planning. Perhaps this aspect needs a more rigorous investigation. 

 Overall, socio-economic insecurity is the driving factor of high fertility rates, rather than 

religion as can be seen from differing fertility levels in the various Muslim countries. In some of 

these countries they have high levels of Family Planning acceptance. For instance Putra and 

Singh (2015) noted that there is a difference of opinion in relation to acceptability of family 

planning or otherwise in Islam. They stated that according to the Faculty of Medicine of the King 

Abdulaziz University of Saudi Arabia family planning is acceptable within wedlock if there is a 

threat to the health or life of the expectant mother. Likewise, in a study carried out in Jordan 

where the majority of the people are Muslims, 82% of male and 98% of female religious leaders 

believe that family planning is in keeping with Islamic tenets as reported by Putra and Singh 

(2015). And in a study conducted in Sudan, 59.5% of Muslim men believe that Islam approves of 

family planning as reported by Khalifa (1988). 

In conclusion, better economic conditions and more education are shown to ameliorate 

attitude towards FP as seen in this study and in other countries around the world. Improving on 

these two factors and providing health education that is culture and religion specific targeted at 

males will help in this regard. The messages should include the consequences of closely spaced 

pregnancy on the mother and child, especially on already existing children. 

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 

We acknowledge the financial assistance of MacArthur Foundation for sponsoring the research 

under their Fund for Leadership Development (FLD) program.  

 

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