NPC registers 25,728 births in Ogun
The National Population Commission (NPC) yesterday disclosed it has registered 25,728 births in Ogun State between January and June 2018 out of the 67,434 figure expected for the period. The Super Monitor, Birth Registration, of the NPC, Ayodele Ogunleye, disclosed this at a stakeholders meeting and the flag-off of the media campaign on promoting birth […]
The National Population Commission (NPC) yesterday disclosed it has registered 25,728 births in Ogun State between January and June 2018 out of the 67,434 figure expected for the period.
The Super Monitor, Birth Registration, of the NPC, Ayodele Ogunleye, disclosed this at a stakeholders meeting and the flag-off of the media campaign on promoting birth registration in Abeokuta.
Ogunleye identified ignorance as one of the major reasons why parents refused to register their wards, saying that poverty could not be a hindrance.
He stated that massive ignorance of the civil society on importance of birth registration for their children’s health development and future aspirations was a bottleneck.
The monitor stated that the NPC had devised a mechanism that would be used to summarise birth registration coverage in local government areas of the state.
The Commission’s Head of Vital Registration in the state, Philips Alayaki, disclosed there were 4,000 functional registration centres across the 774 local government councils in the country.
Alayaki said that 106 of such centres were located in Ogun State in health institutions like maternity homes, hospitals, local government secretariats and NPC offices.
“Birth registration is bedevilled by a lot of challenges which have constituted bottlenecks for smooth operation. It is important to create awareness by every available means, especially through the mass media.
“The NPC and UNICEF see the media as a critical stakeholder in the effort to improve civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) in Nigeria,” he said.
The Ogun State Director of NPC, Gbolahan Olude, stressed that birth registration was “compulsory, continuous, permanent and universal.”