The National Orientation Agency (NOA), in partnership with National Population Commission (NPC) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), has launched a nationwide digital birth registration social mobilisation drive, aimed at ensuring that every child in Nigeria has access to education, healthcare, and other essential services.

This partnership is focused on ensuring that every child in the country from zero to five years is duly registered and provided with a national identification number (NIN) after the process.

Director-General of NOA, Lanre Issa-Onilu, who spoke during a media briefing, at the weekend, in Lagos, said that birth registration is the first legal acknowledgement of a child’s existence, essential for safeguarding their rights and privileges.

Issa-Onilu, who was represented by Director of Special Duties and State Operations, David Akoji, said: “Accurate birth registration is vital for national planning and development, providing essential data for education, among others.”

“We encourage parents and guardians to visit the nearest NPC registration centre to register their children. The process is simple, free, and requires only supporting documents like an immunisation card or existing birth certificate.”

The state’s Director for NPC, Bamidele Sadiku, while also addressing the media, said that the birth registration drive, which started in August, will run till November 2024 and is entirely funded by UNICEF.

He noted that there are about 141 registration centres already existing in all the 20 councils and the 37 LCDAs in Lagos State.

He further said that discussions are currently ongoing with the Ministry of Health to fuse into their programmes and engagements with the public to expand the reach of the registration programme.

Sadiku said that prior to now, birth registration was being done manually with the use of paper but now, the whole process has transformed into a digital form.