Birth registration is the first step towards recognising a child’s inalienable right as a human being; In Nigeria, there are provisions in the current legislation indicating that registration shall be carried out free of charge within a period of 60 days from the date of birth. Despite this provision, birth registration rate over the years has been worrisome across the country.
The implication however, is that unregistered children are uncounted and unaccounted for as they are considered as nonexistent in the eyes of the government or the law.
They are without proof of identity thereby excluded from accessing education, healthcare and other vital services.
They are also vulnerable to exploitation and abuses. In a bid to the change the narrative, the Nigerian Government with support from key stakeholders have embarked on rigorous campaign that will see respective states key into the birth and death registration initiative.
The gains of such campaigns may have started yielding the desired results inview of the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, MICS report indicating a 57 percent increase in birth registration across the country.
Analysis of the MICS report indicates that Lagos state recorded the highest number of birth registration with 94 per cent, closely followed by the FCT with 87 percent while states with lowest registration are Jigawa with 23.6 percent and Sokoto with 22.5 per cent.
The survey shows that three percent of children under the age of five had their births registered but do not have birth certificates.
It also suggests that two out of every three mothers and care-givers of children aged below five years whose births were not registered do not know how to register births.
Commending the outcome of the report, the Chairman of the National Population Commission NPC Hon Isa Kwarra said it is not yet uhuru as the Commission in collaboration with the United Nations Children Funds, UNICEF are working on measures to attain 100 percent coverage of birth registration across the country. Despite the spike in birth registration, states like Sokoto and Jigawa are seriously lagging behind.
This Kwarra said is being tackled as the Commission is at the verge of decentralizing birth registration processes to ensure more Nigerian children especially in areas with low birth registration outcomes are captured. Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’ Fund UNIICEF indicated plans to support full automation of birth registration in Nigeria. According to the representative of World body chief, Child Protection in Nigeria, Sharon Oladiji, the move is to enable the government to attain full coverage of the exercise in Nigeria.
She further harp on the required political will to drive the birth registration programme by respective government’s.
Expectations however, indicate that states like Sokoto and others lagging behind should embark on more advocacy on the gains of birth registration in their localities, only then will the people embrace and own the policy.
