Most deaths go undocumented as Nigeria records 5m births yearly – NPC
The National Population Commission (NPC) has expressed concerns over the lack of documentation for births and deaths in Nigeria, despite the country witnessing approximately five million births annually.
Clifford Zira, a Federal Commissioner with the NPC, made these remarks during an event in Yola. He noted that the current rate of birth registration stands at about 57 percent, while death documentation is alarmingly low, at below 20 percent.
Zira emphasized that inadequate registration of births and deaths necessitates ongoing efforts by authorities to improve routine registration practices. He announced the launch of a digital registration initiative for both births and deaths across Adamawa State, which falls under the new Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system.
This initiative aims to enhance civil registration and generate more reliable statistics to inform public policy and resource distribution. Zira explained that the digital registration system began operating in all 21 local government areas of Adamawa State at the start of the month, building on the recent introduction of the E-CRVS system and the establishment of the National Coordination Committee on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics by President Bola Tinubu.
To facilitate better registration coverage, the NPC has set up 4,011 functional registration centers across the country’s 774 local government areas.
Jummai Hassan, the NPC State Director, highlighted the disappointing level of death registrations in Adamawa. She referred to the digital registration initiative as one of the most transformative reforms in Nigeria’s civil registration history.
