E-Birth: NPC registers 40,000 in Kwara, decries apathy

The Director of the National Population Commission (NPC), Alhaji Olaitan Zubair, has expressed concern over the lack of public interest in the ongoing nationwide digital birth registration for children aged 0-5 years in Kwara State.

He stated this during a press briefing in Ilorin, the state capital on Monday.

The digital birth registration initiative is part of the civil and vital registration statistics mandate of the NPC and aims to modernize the previously analogue registration process.

Alhaji Zubair said, “Since the world is going global, we cannot afford to be left behind, hence the start of digitalized birth registration.”

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The new system allows for seamless birth verification anywhere, as the information collected will be synchronized to a central database, he said.

He said currently, the NPC has registered approximately 40,000 children since the launch of the programme in August, adding that the goal is to register 152,000 children in the state.

He attributed the low registration numbers to a lack of awareness and significant public apathy toward the initiative.

To address this issue, he said the NPC has partnered with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to promote awareness and advocate for the importance of birth registration.

The registration exercise is scheduled to continue from August to December 2024.