Only 40% of births registered in Nigeria — NPC

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By Folarin Kehinde

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ABUJA — The National Population Commission, NPC, has raised the alarm that only about 40 per cent of births in Nigeria are currently registered, despite more than five million children being born in the country annually.

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The Commission disclosed this in Abuja during the commemoration of the 2026 Africa Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, CRVS, Day.

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Speaking at the event, Chairman of the NPC, Dr Aminu Yusuf, said the low registration coverage, particularly of births and deaths, remained a major challenge to Nigeria’s efforts to build a comprehensive and reliable national population database.

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Yusuf, however, said the Commission had taken a major step towards closing the gap with the nationwide launch of a fully digital Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system on the Vital Rights Platform on July 1, 2026.

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According to him, the launch marked the end of manual registration and the beginning of a new era of technology-driven civil registration in Nigeria.

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He said the digital system would enable the country to securely and promptly record births, deaths, marriages and other vital events, while providing reliable data for governance, planning and sustainable development.

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The NPC chairman explained that the digital platform would improve the storage and security of vital records, reduce duplication through automated verification and unique identifiers, and facilitate interoperability with health institutions, identity management agencies, planning bodies and statistical institutions.

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He said: “More than five million children are born in Nigeria every year. According to the most recent Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey, only about 40 per cent of births are registered, while death registration coverage remains unacceptably low.

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“These statistics underscore the urgent need to accelerate registration coverage through sustainable public awareness, stronger partnerships and increased community participation.”

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Yusuf said the Commission was also decentralising registration services to bring them closer to Nigerians, particularly those living in rural and underserved communities.

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He disclosed that digital registration services had already been extended to about 4,000 of the 8,809 wards across the country, with plans to achieve nationwide coverage.

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The NPC chairman further revealed that more than 4,000 functional registration centres had been established across the 774 local government areas, while the Commission had commenced an expansion programme aimed at increasing the number to about 8,000 centres nationwide.

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He said the expansion would reduce the distance, cost and time involved in accessing registration services and help ensure that no child or vital event was excluded because of geographical barriers.

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Yusuf said the Commission had also strengthened partnerships with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON; National Identity Management Commission, NIMC; UNICEF; and BAMFOR Technologies Limited through a partnership compact signed in January 2025.

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He added that the NPC was working with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, state governments and health institutions to integrate birth registration into routine health services, allowing children to be registered as close as possible to their point of birth.

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Also speaking, UNICEF Nigeria’s Chief of Child Protection, Natalie McCauley, described birth registration as a fundamental child right and the state’s first legal recognition of a child.

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McCauley said a birth certificate provided proof of identity and laid the foundation for access to healthcare, education, social protection and legal protection throughout a child’s life.

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She commended Nigeria’s progress in expanding digital birth registration, noting that services were now available in more than 4,000 wards across the country, including rural, hard-to-reach and humanitarian settings.

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She urged the government and stakeholders to focus on three priorities as Africa enters a new CRVS decade: integration, decentralisation and digitalisation.

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According to her, civil registration systems must work seamlessly with health, identity management, social protection and education systems, while services must be brought closer to families, especially those in remote communities.

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“Every registered birth strengthens child protection. Every registered child becomes more visible to the systems designed to serve and protect them,” she said.

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McCauley assured that UNICEF would continue to support the Nigerian government and its partners to strengthen birth registration systems, increase awareness and ensure that no child was left behind.

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