The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has partnered with the National Population Commission (NPC) to incorporate the National Identification Number (NIN) into the country’s digital birth registration system in an initiative aimed at enhancing child identity and citizenship in Nigeria.
This move, according to UNICEF, will not only grant children an official identity but also streamline the process of obtaining Nigerian citizenship.
The announcement was made by Mr Denis Onoise, a UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, during an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
The interview took place on the sidelines of a two-day media dialogue focused on promoting e-birth registration in the South-West region of Nigeria.
The integration of NIN
Onoise emphasised that the new e-birth registration system would automatically generate and secure a NIN for each registered child.
He urged parents to leverage this digital registration process, noting its benefits for future school enrollment, visa applications, and international passport requests.
The process is designed to be user-friendly, allowing parents to register their newborns immediately after birth, before discharge from the hospital.
“The advantages attached to e-birth or digital registration cannot be over-emphasised,” Onoise remarked.
“Most importantly, this opportunity generates a NIN for the child, thus saving parents or the child from future stress.”
“Additionally, e-birth registration will provide the government with a credible database that will aid in policymaking and the distribution of resources and facilities such as health centers and schools.”
Mr Bamidele Sadiku, Director of NPC in Lagos, echoed these sentiments, stating that the e-birth registration system would significantly enhance government planning and resource allocation.
He explained that a well-developed civil registration system, which includes the recording of all vital events such as births and deaths, is crucial for effective governance.
Sadiku added that e-birth registration would help eliminate issues such as double registration, identity forgery, and other forms of data manipulation.
“The e-birth registration and certificate issuance system provide an easy way of registering and obtaining birth certificates,” Sadiku said.
“Through this system, the status of birth certificate applications can be viewed and verified online. This process will assist government officials in expediting childbirth registration and maintaining accurate records for future use.”
Sadiku announced that plans are underway to launch e-birth registration in five states across Southern Nigeria, with the ambitious target of registering 928,523 under-five children by the end of the year.
This initiative is expected to significantly improve the registration coverage and ensure that more children have access to essential services and rights as bona fide citizens.
What you should know
Nairametrics recently reported that Denis Onoise, UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, outlined the NPC’s ambitious targets to register over nine million children under five and four million children under one year.
He emphasised the crucial role of primary health centers in achieving these objectives.
Onoise also highlighted a notable disparity in birth registration rates between rural and urban areas, with rural areas reporting a higher registration rate of 78.9% compared to 44.8% in urban areas.
He suggested that integrating birth registration with the National Identification Number (NIN) could significantly enhance data accuracy and coverage.
To support this initiative, Nigeria has established 4,000 registration centers across its 774 local government areas.
