Chioma Umeha
With little resources to cater for the needs of a
fast growing population put at 200 million in a country that boasts of four
million unregistered births annually, stakeholders foresee more hard times for
Nigeria in the nearest future.
Out of over seven million babies born yearly in
Nigeria, the equivalence of the population of Sierra Leone, more than four
million of these babies lack legal existence as their births are not
registered. In view of this, experts say, “they are worried.”
There is no gainsaying that knowing the number of
children born in a country would allow the government to make right policies
for the betterment of all citizens.
Similarly, the United Nation’s Children Fund
(UNICEF) notes, “Children with no birth certificate don’t exist before the law,
and are in danger of remaining on the margins of society, or being shut out
altogether.
“They are more likely to face major challenges in
accessing healthcare, education and social assistance.”
Regrettably, only 2.6 million children under the
age of one were registered by the National Population Commission (NPopC) last
year. This year so far, 1.6 million infants have been registered, regardless of
the law stipulates that birth should be registered within 60 days.
Birth registration does not correspond with birth
rate in the country. On New Year’s Day alone, more than 20,000 babies were born
in Nigeria, the third highest in the world, according to UNICEF, the UN
children’s agency.
One in five births in Africa takes place in
Nigeria and the country accounts for five per cent of all global births. UNICEF
estimates that from 2015 to 2030, 136 million births will take place in Nigeria
– making up 19 per cent of all African babies and 6 per cent of the global
total. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) further projects that by
2050, Nigeria alone will account for almost one-tenth of all births in the
world.
This issue was the focus recently in Kano at a
media dialogue on birth registration organised by UNICEF in conjunction with
the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture (FMIC) and National Population
Commission (NPopC).
Mrs. Sharon Oladiji, Child Protection Specialist,
UNICEF, in her presentation, ‘Current Situation of Birth Registration in
Nigeria’ notes that birth registration in 2018 is abysmally low, revealing that
“the performance of birth registration is only 32 per cent.”
For her, this figure shows that “all the states
have low registration and this can be traceable to some limitations which must
be urgently addressed.”
Oladiji also says, only eight per cent of
under-five children are registered in Nigeria. She noted that birth
registration is a key issue evidenced by a birth certificate and requires
urgent attention.
The Child Protection Specialist states, “Currently
only eight per cent of under-five children are registered in Nigeria:
http:br.rapidsmsnigeria.org.
“Only 44 per cent of Africa’s births are
registered, leaving an estimated 85 million children under five unregistered.
“Eight of the 10 countries with the lowest levels
of birth registration are in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Nigeria having the
largest population of unregistered children.”
Noting that about 62 per cent of children were
given birth to outside Nigeria’s health facilities, Oladiji stresses, the advocacy
at all state levels, if strengthened would support birth registration.
She insists that the importance of birth
registration to the national development could not be overemphasised as this
would allow the government to make right policies for the betterment of all
citizens.
She further says, only 40 per cent of women access
healthcare facilities which were a major problem in birth registration,
querying, “When women don’t visit the healthcare, how do you expect them to
register?
“In 2016, registered birth under aged one is
2,519,071 which translated to 51 per cent of the estimated birth in the
country.
“But in 2017, it is reduced to 7,066 birth
registration out of the 4,758,812 expected births under the age of one.
She states, the 2013 National Demographic Health
Survey (DHS) revealed the low level of registration which could not be
traceable to only ignorance of rural community dwellers while calling on Civil
Society Organisations and the media to rise up to the challenge.
Oladiji who presented the Rapid sms data dashboard
of Birth Registration also comments, “It shows the status of U1 and U5 BR in
Nigeria for years 2016 and 2017, adding, “This depicts a glaring decline in BR
at present.”
This implies that people were not registering the
birth of their children probably because they did not know the importance of
BR, she adds.
A major essence of presenting the Rapid sms data,
she explains, is to highlight the gaps which exist in the BR process in the
country and arm journalists with data.
The Child Protection Specialist observes that this
would help media advocacy for relevant actors – parents, caregivers,
religious/traditional/community leaders, LG chairmen, etc. These are the
individuals needed to bring about the desired behaviour change towards birth
registration within the next three months.
She further explains that birth registration is
free for children under 17, adding that those who claimed that they pay to
procure birth certificates from the health facilities and Local Government
Areas are above specified age.
She projects that Nigeria would be producing 257
million children in Africa from 2015 to 2050 and these children needs to be
planned for.
Further Oladiji provides the lists of the benefit
of birth registration in the country to the Nigerian child if registered noting
that it covers health, education, survival, social services initiatives,
developmental goals, etc.
She observes, birth registration processes face
some challenges, some of which are both internal and external. The internal
challenge is within NPopC, while the external concerns health, education,
community and other government actors.
She stresses the need for inter-agency
collaboration and extensive media campaigns to help surmount the weak knowledge
of birth registration process and create awareness of the operations of NPopC.
In her presentation titled, National Population
Commission: The historical Perspective of BR in Nigeria, Haiya Husaini
highlights a host of challenges the institution is facing – ranging from lack
of infrastructure, weak knowledge base of people, to collaborations.
She however notes that the collaboration with
UNICEF has resulted in production of radio jingles and print materials
currently being utilised in on-going enlightenment campaigns.
Jude Inegbeboh, another facilitator demonstrated
how to navigate the Rapid sms dashboard to help participants gain more
knowledge and information on BR situation, thereby deriving data needed to do
evidence-based stories.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information,
Culture and Tourism, in his welcome address corroborates that there is need for
widespread media campaign to enlighten and create awareness in homes,
communities and at all levels of government on birth registration.
Mohammed, who was represented by Mr. Olumide
Osanyipeju, Head of Advocacy, Child Right Information Bureau in the Ministry,
also says the low awareness of birth registration had resulted to lack of
planning.
“The low level, or apparently lack of awareness on
the importance of birth registration has resulted in lack of planning for
children and improper capturing of this important segment of our society in
developmental and social processes that affect them.
“Workable solutions to this general weak knowledge
can begin right from the homes and communities and through a wide spread media
campaign aimed at creating awareness at all levels of governance and civil
society.”
He adds, the media campaign would drive demand for
birth registration services and promote increased knowledge on the importance
of birth registration.
