Borno Tops List In Birth Registration Rates
Chioma Umeha
Despite insurgency, Borno is ahead of other states
of the federation in the number of birth registrations conducted nationwide in
the last five years, the National Population Commission says.
Emmanuel Mark, Head of Department, Vital
Registration Department, National Population Commission (NPopC) in Borno,
disclosed this in an interview with the DAILY INDEPENDENT recently.
Mark made the revelation during a Media Dialogue
on Birth Registration in Kano, convened by the United Nations Children Education
Fund in support of the Child Right Information Bureau, Federal Ministry
information, Culture and Tourism.
Over 40 participants were in attendance at the
meeting which aim was to tackle obstacles against birth registration in the
country.
With 83 per cent under-one registration, and 20
per cent under-five registration within the period, Borno is ahead of others in
the chart of birth registration in Nigeria, the Head of Department, NPopC said.
He said that NPopC through the support of the
UNICEF engaged its staff with the business of registering children within the
local government areas of the state to realise its dream.
According to Mark, other organisations also gave
their support to Borno in ensuring that children were registered at birth.
He said, “Apart from UNICEF, there are other
organisations like the UNHCR and Non-Governmental Organisations that supported
us in the birth registration processes.
“What we also did to earn the glory was to assign
our registrars not to only register at designated centres but also register in
private hospitals and Internally Displaced Persons camps.
“So we have to take advantage of the IDP camps
across the state and register the children.”
Mark also explained that traditional rulers and
Religious Organisations were not involved in this registration but added that
in the subsequent process they would be involved.
The Head of Department, NPopC stressed that if the
traditional and religious institutions were brought in earlier, the birth
registration in the country within the five years would have risen steeply.
Mark, therefore urged on parents and stakeholders
to ensure that new born babies were registered as this was the only way to show
the true picture of a child’s identity and as well be included in the
population of the country.
The National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS)
showed that Borno is leading in the birth registration rate with 172,878 boys
and 190,438 girls totalling 363,316 within the period.
The state tops Lagos, Ibadan Kano, FCT and Oyo
states, which have more population with an aggregate of 83 per cent and 20 per
cent registration under one and five years respectively.
With the registration of 172,925 boys and 166,023
girls totaling 338,948, Kano came second on the chart.
Similarly, Lagos state registered 117,586 boys and
113,998 girls totaling 231,584 while Oyo State registered 86,615 boys and
86,522 girls which gave a total figure of 173,137 registrations.
With 7,567 boys and 7,309 girls’ registration,
totalling 14,876 which translated to an aggregate of 15 per cent and three per
cent under one and five years registration respectively, Balyesa emerged the
lowest in birth registration.
Birth registration is the continuous, permanent,
compulsory and universal recording of the occurrence and characteristics of
birth.
Birth registration is free, which means that
children aged between 0 and 17 can be registered free at any healthcare
facility centre across the country, the Head of Department, NPopC said.
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