The National Population Commission has announced the successful registration of over 10 million children aged zero to five years within the last three months.
The Chairman of the commission, Alhaji Nasir Kwarra, stated this while speaking to journalists after the First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu presented a birth certificate to the baby of the year at the Asokoro General Hospital, Abuja on Wednesday.
Kwarra, who was represented by the Federal Commissioner from Katsina State, Bala Banya, described the registration as a milestone in the country’s efforts to establish a robust identity management system.
He emphasised the importance of birth registration, noting that it provides a legal identity and affirms the child’s status as a Nigerian.
“One, the birth certificate is an identity. It’s a legal identity. It is a document that identifies that somebody is a Nigerian,” he said.
The NPC has integrated the issuance of e-birth certificates with the National Identity Number system.
According to the chairman, children registered are now automatically assigned a NIN at the time of their birth registration, ensuring their inclusion in the national database.
“In the last three months, we have registered more than 10 million children aged zero to five years. And this registration is continuous.
“We will now concentrate more on under one year registration and we are making tremendous progress,” he added.
The Director General of the commission, Dr. Osifo Ojogun, stressed that the commission had concluded plans to establish over 4,000 registration centres throughout the country to bring registration centres closer to the people.
The DG also noted that the commission was taking advantage of available technology to ensure every child registered, have an identity that cannot be duplicated anywhere.
He appreciated the first Lady who was represented by the wife of the vice president, Hajiya Nana Shettima, for presenting the certificate to the baby of the year.
Ojogun also urged Nigerians to register their deaths with the commission to enable it maintain a clean register.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
