According to the National Population Commission, 57% of births in 23 states were registered digitally.
The NPC announced in May 2023 that it will digitize the civil registration and vital statistics procedure and set a registration goal of 12.7 million children under the age of five by the end of 2023.
The United Nations Children’s Fund and the digitization project aim to raise the number of children possessing birth certificates, which presently ranges from 33% to 63% in urban areas and 32% in rural regions.
The birth registration of 12 million under-five eligible children is now continuing, according to Sunday Matthew, director of vital registration at NPC, who spoke with our reporter. 57% of the population is covered.
Matthew noted that a lot of sensitisation and awareness were still on the ground to make parents see the need to register their children at birth.
He said, “We have been speaking to parents, especially mothers on the need to register their children at birth.
“We are automating the processes of childbirth registration to ensure that there will be no double registration and for the probability.”
Matthew added, “President Bola Tinubu is expected to launch the app for digitisation and automation of the civil registration process, though we have yet to get the date of the launching.”
