… targets over 900,000 under-5 children

By Chioma Obinna

To ensure the proper identity of children, the federal government, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is to flag off the E-birth registration in five Southern states.

The programme, billed to hold before the end this month, (July), is targeting to capture not less than 928,523 number of under-five children in those states before the end of 2024.

The states includes; Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ogun and Edo States.

President Bola Tinubu had last year inaugurated the national coordination committee of the electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (e-CRVS) system under the National Population Commission (NPC). The platform will digitalises all civil documentation such as birth and stillbirth registration, birth attestation, adoption, marriage notification, divorce notification, migration and death.

Disclosing these at a two-day media dialogue, organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Social Development, and National Population Commission in Lagos, UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, Denis Onoise said the e-birth registration was conceptualised about two years ago, with the plan to ensure every child in Nigeria has a legal identity.

The theme of the Media Dialogue is: “A media dialogue to drive E-birth registration in South-West Nigeria.”.

He explained that the right of every child to birth registration is enshrined in various international instruments such as the UN CRC (articles 7 & 8) & African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (article 6) and the Nigeria Child Rights Act (2003) (article 5(2)).

“One Legal identity for all One of the only SDG to be achieved in Nigeria”

Quoting the latest National Population Commission (NPC), data, said the estimated population of Nigeria is 216,783,381; children under 5 is 16,705,671 and children under 1 is 3,554.005.

Onoise said there are 164 million unregistered children worldwide, with more than half (around 91 million, representing 56 per cent) living in Africa.

He explained that the e-birth registration was designed to close the gaps as well as ensure that every child counts.

“The last Nigerian census was conducted, about 20 years ago. We haven’t had the opportunity of another census yet. And for us, Nigerians, including children have a lot to benefit from being registered.

“We want to make birth registration faster, hence, the reason we are going digital. We worked in 20 states last year, with plans to add other states in 2024. We intend to flag off the e-birth registration before the end of the month. These states include, Ekiti, Edo, Osun and Ogun and Oyo states. We want the e-birth registration to commence before the end of the month. The plan is to flag off the e-birth registration exercise, and those who are trained will go into communities, go into the state, and start to register children,” he revealed.

Speaking at the highly impactful two-day media dialogue on driving e-birth registration in Nigeria, Chief of UNICEF Field Office for South West Nigeria, Celine Lafoucriere, said birth registration is a fundamental human right, and without legal identity, the child remains unavailable, and invisible.

“The chief of UNICEF Field Office for South West Nigeria, Celine Lafoucriere, said birth registration is a fundamental human right, and without legal identity, a child remains unavailable, invisible. “A registered child has acknowledged rights to protection but also to healthcare, education and other critical services. Without child registration, these children remain invisible to our governments, making it difficult to plan adequately for them,” Lafoucriere added.

Speaking on the e-birth registration, Lafoucriere said it is a formidable opportunity to get more children registered and have a legal identity, adding that it cuts off the issues like geographic distance, and makes it easier for parents to register their children as soon as they are born.

She added that the e-birth registration will generate vital statistics that are necessary for effective planning and implementation of policy and budgeting. “If the government does not know how many children it has to budget for, it cannot do it efficiently,” she added.

Also the Communication Officer, UNICEF Lagos office, Mrs. Blessing Ejiofor enjoined media practitioners to relay accurate messages to the population, adding that “Accurate and timely data from birth registration also allows us to monitor the progress that we are collectively making across several sustainable development goals. Your role in this is crucial and cannot be overstated.

Speaking the permanent secretary, Youth and Social Development, Lagos state, Pharm Toyin Oke-Osanyintolu, applauded the idea of e-birth registration, adding that the outcome will go a long way in contributing to the nation’s growth by putting in place the necessary space for children to have a good beginning in life. “A good beginning entails giving every child a legal identity,” she affirmed.

Speaking on what the ministry is doing to protect the rights of every child in Lagos state, Oke-Osanyintolu, who was represented by the director at the Ministry of Youth, and Social Development, Adeola Labisi, said, the minstry place high premium on the best interests of every child in the state, through formulation and implementation of the state policies and programs.

Also speaking, the State director, National Population Commission (NPC), Lagos state, Bamidele Sadiku, said the commission has 4,000 civil registration centres spread across the 774 Local Government Areas of the 36 States including the Federal Capital Territory Abuja.

He said in Lagos they have about 142 registration centres including PHCs and LCDAs among others.

Sadiku, said that a well developed and functioning civil registration system entails the registration of all vital events including births and deaths, adding that e-birth registration, when launched, would provide an identity that usually enables access to a wide variety of basic rights and services as bonafide citizens.

Sadiku said, having the e-birth registration platform would lead to better lives for Nigerians.

He said with the Commission’s partners, they wanted to put things in the right perspective, provide vital recommendations and remove issues of double registration.

According to him, the synergy with the National Identification Number, NIN, which is already providing services, will help to have a common database.

He advocated the support of the media for the success of the exercise.