United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in collaboration with the National Population Commission (NPC), has incorporated the National Identification Number (NIN) into digital birth registration in Nigeria.

It also says that the new e-birth registration will give a child an identity and the opportunity to be a Nigerian citizen.

UNICEF child protection specialist Denis Onoise stated these in an interview in Lagos, on the sideline of a two-day media dialogue on e-birth registration in the South-West held in Lagos.

According to Mr Onoise, the e-birth registration certificate will automatically generate and secure NIN for such a child. Therefore, he urged parents to ensure that their children were registered digitally, as it would be useful during school enrollment or visa or international passport applications.

Mr Onoise added that the e-birth registration could be done immediately after the child’s birth, either by the mother or the father, before such a baby would be discharged from the hospital.

The director of NPC in Lagos, Bamidele Sadiku, said e-birth registration would promote efficient government planning and effective use of resources.

Mr Sadiku said that a well-developed and functioning civil registration system entailed the registration of all vital events, including births and deaths.

He added that e-birth registration would provide an identity that usually enabled access to various basic rights and services as bona fide citizens.

According to him, e-birth registration has the potential to check double registration, identity forgery, and other birth data manipulations.

Mr Sadiku said plans were underway by the government to launch e-birth registration in five states, with the target of capturing 928,523 birth registrations of under-five children in Southern Nigeria before the end of the year.

(NAN)