Sodiq Ojuroungbe In a bid to ensure that every child in Nigeria has a legal identity, the United Nations Children’s Fund has urged the government to implement electronic birth registration to grant millions of children their rightful place in society. The Chief of the UNICEF Field Office for South West Nigeria, Celine Lafoucriere, noted that the system would enhance national planning and development for the country with e-birth registration. She stated this during a two-day media dialogue on e-birth registration in collaboration with the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development and the National Population Commission.
According to the UNICEF chief, with efficient e-birth registration for the country, the government at all levels would be able to adequately plan and implement policies that will cater to the needs of the people, particularly young citizens. She said, “It is important to give every child an identity, and this can be achieved through registration. E-registration is important to generate statistics for effective planning.
If adequate statistics are not available, the government might not be able to adequately plan for children.” In his presentation, UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, Denis Onoise, revealed that NPC was targeting more than nine million birth registrations for children under five years and four million registrations for children less than one year old as of 2024. He said to achieve proper e-registration for children in the country,.
