Igbeaku Orji 
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the National Population Commission (NPC) in Abia State have called on parents to disregard superstition and other traditional beliefs that inhibit the success of government policies meant for the good of the people, especially with regard to birth registration.
Speaking at the birth registration sensitisation in Umuahia, the Abia State Director of NOA, Mrs Regina Iroha said the exercise was aimed at ensuring that every child in Nigeria has access to education, health care and other essential services.
“Birth registration is the first acknowledgement of a child’s existence and is essential for safeguarding their rights and privileges for now and in the future.
It is the key to unlocking access to basic services such as education and healthcare, which are crucial for a child’s development and future,” she said. Iroha observed that accurate birth registration was also necessary for national planning and development as it provides the government with essential data to plan for education, health care and other public services.
She noted that by registering a child’s birth families ensure that their children are recognised by the state, which she explained as the first step in protecting them from abuse, exploitation and statelessness.
She called on parents, guardians and community leaders to visit the NPC registration centers across the state to register children from 0-five years and obtain a National Identification Number (NIN) for free.
In her address, the State Director of the NPC, Lady Juliana Ezebuiro, identified two types of birth registration – birth certificate for 0-17 years and attestation of birth for those above 17 years and listed the benefits of birth registration to include, easy registration into formal education, documentations and procession of vital travel documents, documentation and establishment of family ties, among others.
She explained that only NPC issued birth certificates are recognised by the constitution for government and embassy documentation and urged parents to embrace the exercise for their children.
According to her, “birth registration is the process of identifying new born, extracting their vital birth and personal information, documenting it and transmitting the same to the database of the NPC after which the child is issued a birth certificate.”
