This was a traditional question which was quite popular with the candidates.
It requested the candidates to give two major views of Rev. Thomas Malthus and to explain its relevance to the economic realities of West African countries.
The candidates performed quite creditably well in the 'a' part of the question but did badly in the second part of the question. To score good marks in the second part of the question candidates were expected to state as follows:


(i) Economists generally believed that Rev. Thomas Malthus, to some extent, was right because his postulations are quite apt and related to less industrialized countries such as West African countries.
(ii) A large proportion of the population live below subsistence level and wide spread hunger and poverty are visible.
(iii) Famine, plague, epidemics and drought particularly in the arid regions afflict these countries but their effects are ameliorated by national and international interventions.

(iv) High infant mortality rates are prevalent as predicted by Rev. Thomas
Malthus except that the rates are declining.
(v) However, with improvements in technology, transportation and communication, health facilities, population control methods, the Malthusian views are becoming relatively irrelevant.