(Birth Registration. Photo by Leadership News)
The National Population Commission has alerted the public to Nigeria’s substantial birth registration deficit, indicating that only roughly 40 per cent of births receive formal registration.
NPC Chairman Dr Aminu Yusuf conveyed this information during a media briefing in Abuja marking the 2026 Africa Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Day.
Yusuf noted that over five million children are born annually in Nigeria and emphasised the necessity of making civil registration services more accessible to communities.
According to recent demographic survey data, approximately 60 per cent of births remain unregistered whilst death registration coverage is critically low.
Addressing this disparity requires enhanced collaborative efforts, sustained public education and expanded grassroots engagement.
The Commission transitioned to a fully digital civil registration system through the VitalReg platform on July 1, 2026, terminating manual registration processes.
The digital infrastructure has strengthened security, operational efficiency, data reliability and service accessibility whilst eliminating duplication through automated verification mechanisms and unique identification protocols.
The system enables government to produce vital statistics expeditiously, supplying dependable demographic information for national development planning, resource distribution, infrastructure investment and social welfare initiatives.
However, Yusuf cautioned that technological solutions alone cannot resolve registration gaps, highlighting the Commission’s commitment to decentralisation and strategic partnerships delivering grassroots services.
The NPC established a Partnership Compact Agreement in January 2025 with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, National Identity Management Commission, UNICEF and Bankforte Technologies to expand civil registration access, improve system interoperability and advance digital integration.
The Commission collaborates with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, state authorities and health providers to embed birth registration within routine health services, enabling registration near the point of birth.
Approximately 4,000 of Nigeria’s 8,809 wards currently access digital civil registration services under the partnership, with expansion to remaining wards proceeding.
The Commission operates over 4,000 registration centres across 774 local government areas with plans to establish approximately 8,000 centres nationwide.
This expansion combined with the digital platform will reduce registration distance, expense and processing delays whilst preventing population segments from remaining unrecorded.
The deputy director for civil registration disclosed that the Commission is integrating registration with health facilities and community infrastructure.
The NPC collaborates with the NPHCDA to incorporate birth registration into immunisation programmes, with health workers screening certificate possession and facilitating registration where absent.
The Commission has trained roughly 4,000 community-level registrars through the partnership to conduct ward-level registration.
The Commission is establishing a community birth alert system with UNICEF assistance whereby traditional institutions, religious organisations and community bodies notify registrars of births occurring outside health settings, ensuring household and community-based births receive documentation rather than exclusion from official records.
The digital system has reduced administrative duplication, enhanced information accessibility and strengthened coordination between birth registration and national identification architectures.
Birth registration records link directly with individual National Identification Numbers, reinforcing the country’s identity management framework.
UNICEF’s Chief Child Protection Officer emphasised that birth registration constitutes a fundamental child right and represents the initial legal recognition a state accords a child.
Birth certificates establish legal identity and provide foundation for healthcare, education, social protection and legal safeguards throughout life.
The organisation acknowledged progress through collaborative efforts whilst warning that numerous children remain at risk of reaching adulthood without legal identity proof.
UNICEF advocates for heightened integration between civil registration and health, identity, social protection, education and justice systems alongside expanded service delivery in communities.
