To secure a legal identity for every child in Nigeria, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is urging the government to implement electronic birth registration. This move would grant millions of children their rightful place in society.
At a two-day media dialogue on e-birth registration, organized in collaboration with the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development and the National Population Commission, UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office for South West Nigeria, Celine Lafoucriere, emphasized the benefits of e-birth registration for national planning and development.
With an efficient electronic birth registration system in place, the government would be empowered to plan and implement policies that cater to the needs of its citizens, particularly the young ones.
This would enable the government to provide adequate services and support, ensuring a brighter future for Nigeria’s children.
She said, “It is important to give every child an identity, and this can be achieved through registration. E-registration is important to generate statistics for effective planning. If adequate statistics are not available, the government might not be able to adequately plan for children.”
In his presentation, Denis Onoise, UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, announced that the National Population Commission (NPC) has set ambitious targets for birth registrations in 2024:
over nine million registrations for children under five and four million for those under one year old. To achieve comprehensive electronic registration, Onoise emphasized the need for collaboration with primary health centers across the country.
He highlighted a significant disparity in birth registration rates between rural and urban areas, with 78.90% of rural residents registering their children at birth compared to 44.8% in urban areas.
Onoise also stressed the importance of integrating birth registration with the National Identification Number (NIN) to enhance the accuracy of the birth database.
Meanwhile, Bamidele Sadiku, Director of the NPC Lagos Office, expressed optimism that the e-birth registration platform would improve the lives of Nigerians while preventing duplicate birth and death registrations.
Sadiku revealed that the NPC has initiated a partnership with the National Identity Management Commission to link both registrations with the NIN, further streamlining the process.
“From time to time, we receive complaints from the EFCC and other security agencies on the issue of birth registration. However, e-registration will solve multiple birth and death registrations because it will be lined with the NIN. This will give identity to every child that is born in the country.
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