Ojogun urged Nigerians to prioritize both birth and death registrations to help the NPC maintain a clean and accurate population register.
Abuja, Nigeria – The National Population Commission (NPC) has announced the registration of more than 10 million children aged zero to five years within the past three months.
Chairman of the Commission, Alhaji Nasir Kwarra, made this known during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday. Speaking through the Federal Commissioner from Katsina State, Bala Banya, Kwarra described the achievement as a significant step in establishing a comprehensive identity management system in Nigeria.
He highlighted the importance of birth registration, emphasizing that it provides a legal identity and confirms a child’s status as a Nigerian citizen.
“A birth certificate is a legal identity document that certifies someone as a Nigerian,” Kwarra stated.
As part of its innovations, the NPC has integrated the issuance of electronic birth certificates with the National Identity Number (NIN) system. With this integration, children are automatically assigned a NIN upon registration, ensuring their inclusion in the national database.
“In the last three months, we have registered over 10 million children aged zero to five years. This effort is continuous, and we are now focusing more on registering children under the age of one. Tremendous progress has been made in this regard,” Kwarra added.
The announcement was made during an event at the Asokoro General Hospital, Abuja, where First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu, represented by the wife of the Vice President, Hajiya Nana Shettima, presented a birth certificate to the nation’s first baby of the year.
NPC’s Director General, Dr. Osifo Ojogun, revealed that the Commission plans to establish over 4,000 registration centers across the country to ensure registration facilities are more accessible.
He also underscored the Commission’s use of advanced technology to maintain a secure identity system, ensuring no duplication of registered identities.
Ojogun urged Nigerians to prioritize both birth and death registrations to help the NPC maintain a clean and accurate population register.
The First Lady’s support for the initiative was commended, with her symbolic presentation of a birth certificate viewed as a commitment to advancing child identity registration in the country.
For more effective identity management, Nigerians are encouraged to participate actively in the registration process.
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