By Evelyn Usman

A development economist and sociologist, Dr. Peter Azonobi, has said Nigeria has the capacity to lead what he described as a new civilisation era in global history, anchored on values, integrity and productive human capital.

Azonobi, in his New Year message to Nigerians and the international community in a press briefing held in Lagos, on Thursday, January 14,2026,declared that humanity has entered the “Third Human Civilisation Age” with the discovery of what he termed the Positive Population World.

He said the new era, governed by the Positive Population Growth Theory , POST and the Positive Population Growth Model,PPGM would redefine how nations develop by shifting focus from population size to population quality.

He said : “Nigeria can lead this new civilisation era if it deliberately aligns its over 230 million people with values of truth-speaking, integrity, ethical leadership, trust and productivity.

“The era of seeing population as a burden is over. Population is now the primary asset for prosperity, stability and global relevance.”
According to him, the world had for decades operated under what he called a Dominant Negative Population World, where corruption, dishonesty, weak character and low trust undermined governance and development, particularly in developing countries.
He noted that “For a long time, humanity believed that nothing fundamental could be done to transform values and behaviour, only to manage decline,” he said. That surrender of hope shaped policies and institutions. But the discovery of the Positive Population World shows that societies can be scientifically transformed.”

Azonobi said his 40 years of research, which began in 1986, led to two major discoveries, including what he termed Negativity Disease Syndrome, a condition characterised by deception, erosion of trust and moral decay, which he said was at the root of Nigeria’s persistent underdevelopment.

“The crisis of Nigeria has been wrongly framed as purely economic and political. The deeper problem is the quality of population values and character systems. Once this is fixed, institutions, productivity and prosperity will follow”, he stated.

Describing the new civilisation as the third in human history, after the Agricultural and Digital Civilisations, Azonobi, said , “This is the Positive Population Civilisation , the mastery of human values, behaviour, trust and collective productivity.

“It provides a scientific operating system capable of turning individuals into value multipliers, societies into trust-based systems and nations into engines of accelerated growth.”

On the role of government, he said the transition to a Dominant Positive Population World was critical to Nigeria’s future and could define the legacy of the current administration.

“This transition is not optional if Nigeria must become functional, stable and prosperous. It offers the country the opportunity to emerge as a global reference point for population-quality-driven development and leadership in the new civilisation era”, he declared.

Azonobi also urged the media to drive the change in national consciousness, noting that “no national transformation of values can occur without the press,” he said. The media must go beyond reporting events to shaping narratives that promote integrity, responsibility, productivity and national purpose.”

He announced that January 15 of every year would be observed as an Annual New Civilisation Age Briefing Day, while an inaugural national lecture on moving Nigeria from a negative to a positive population order would hold in May.

“The new world is within reach. And Nigeria, if it embraces this transition, can lead the new civilisation era”, he asserted.