Only 33% children have birth certificates in Nigeria — UNICEF

• any child not registered is a lost child, without nationality, says NPC
• census will be outdated if Nigeria gets it right with birth registration, says Emir of Gaya

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that only 33 per cent of children in Nigeria have birth certificates.

The UNICEF’s Chief of Kano Field Office, Rahama Farah stated during a stakeholders meeting on birth registration organized by the fund in collaboration with the National Population Commission (NPC) in Kano.

Farah represented by the Senior Education Specialist, Michael Banda said one in every four births of Nigerian children aged under 5 years are not registered while stressing the need for the country to do more to bridge the gap.

The UNICEF Chief while giving hint on the situation in Kano, said more than 45 per cent of the children don’t have their births registered in the state.

According to him, “the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey MICS 2021 shows that about 1 in every 4 births of Nigerian children aged under 5 years are not registered. According to MICS 2021, only 33 per cent of these registered children have a birth certificate.

“To this end, UNICEF is supporting the Government of Nigeria through the National Population Commission, NPC to explore innovative measures and strategies to ensure every child that is born is registered at birth,” Farah said.

He stressed, “while I would like to congratulate Kano State on attaining 55 per cent birth registration coverage, I would like to remind all that, more than 45 per cent of children still do not have their births registered in Kano State. That is the gap that we all must together close.

“UNICEF is committed to supporting the Government of Nigeria, including Kano State, to prioritize and improve birth registration coverage from 57 per cent to 85 per cent by 2027. Today’s kick-off of birth registration plans of the strategy to roll out the digital system. Our target is to register births of 1 million children in Kano State in 2023 alone using the digital system,” the UNICEF’s Chief of Kano Field Office, Farah however stated.

Earlier, the Emir of Gaya, Dr. Aliyu Ibrahim said the conduct of the census exercise will be outdated if Nigeria gets it right with birth registration of children upon childbirth.

The Monarch who was represented by Danmadami Gaya, Abdullahi Nayaya also said the country stands a better chance to address so many challenges bedeviling the country and enable it to plan efficiently if the issue of birth registration is given utmost attention.

On his part, the Chairman, National Population Commission, NPC, Nasir Kwarra, however, emphasized on the need for birth registration upon childbirth saying a child without birth registration is a lost child and that without nationality.

Kwarra represented by his Director, Civic Registration and Vital Statistics, Matthew Sunday said the commission is not leaving any stone unturned to identify critical stakeholders such as the Traditional and religious leaders, UNICEF, NOA, NYSC partners or leverage on to ensure all Nigerian children were duly registered.