To ensure that every child in Nigeria has a legal identity, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called on the government to implement electronic birth registration. This initiative aims to grant millions of children their rightful place in society.
Celine Lafoucriere, Chief of the UNICEF Field Office for South West Nigeria, highlighted that an e-birth registration system would significantly enhance national planning and development. She made these remarks during a two-day media dialogue on e-birth registration, held in collaboration with the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development and the National Population Commission (NPC).
Lafoucriere emphasized that efficient e-birth registration would enable the government at all levels to plan and implement policies more effectively, particularly those catering to young citizens.
“It is crucial to give every child an identity, and this can be achieved through registration,” Lafoucriere stated. “E-registration is important for generating statistics necessary for effective planning. Without adequate statistics, the government might struggle to plan adequately for children.”
UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, Denis Onoise, revealed that the NPC aims to register over nine million children under five years old and four million children less than one year old by 2024. To achieve this, he stressed the importance of partnering with primary health centres across the country.
Onoise pointed out that available statistics indicate a higher birth registration rate in rural areas (78.90%) compared to urban areas (44.8%). He also noted that integrating birth registration with the National Identification Number (NIN) would provide comprehensive data for the national birth database.
Bamidele Sadiku, Director of the NPC Lagos Office, emphasized that the e-birth registration platform would improve the quality of life for Nigerians and prevent duplicate birth and death registrations. He disclosed that the NPC is working with the National Identity Management Commission to link birth registrations with the NIN.
“From time to time, we receive complaints from the EFCC and other security agencies about birth registration issues. E-registration will solve multiple birth and death registrations by linking them with the NIN. This will ensure every child born in the country has a legal identity,” Sadiku explained.
