Nigeria Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2021
Published: 1/Aug/2022
Source: National Bureau of Statistics/UNICEF
Extract:
Chapter 9.1 Birth registration
A name and nationality are every child’s right, enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and other international treaties. Registering children at birth is the first step in securing their recognition before the law, safeguarding their rights, and ensuring that any violation of these rights does not go unnoticed.120 Birth certificates are proof of registration and the first form of legal identity and are often required to access health care or education. Having legal identification can also be one form of protection from entering into marriage or the labour market, or being conscripted into the armed forces, before the legal age. Birth registration and certification is also legal proof of one’s place of birth and family ties and thus necessary to obtain a passport. In adulthood, birth certificates may be required to obtain social assistance or a job in the formal sector, to buy or inherit property and to vote.
In Nigeria, birth registration is the official recording of the birth of a child and provides a permanent and official record of a child’s existence. It secures the child’s identity, nationality, name, and helps to provide easy access to health care and education. Birth certificate is one of the requirements for obtaining a job in the Public Sector in Nigeria. Every child born in Nigeria has the right to have his or her birth registered in Nigeria. According to the Federal Government’s degree no. 69 of 1992 on vital registration, birth registration shall be carried out for free within a period of 60 days from the date of birth. Birth registration after sixty days of birth is considered late registration and liable to a fine. The official agency for birth registration in Nigeria is the National Population Commission (NPC). The Births and Deaths Compulsory Registration Act No.39 of 1979 and Act 69 of 1992 mandates the NPC to register births in Nigeria. Section 24 of the 3rd schedule of the 1999 Constitution also permits the existence of parallel registration systems at the Local Government Area (LGA) level. Registration can therefore be done at the National Population Commission Registration Centers, National Population Commission’s Offices at the Local Government Headquarters, National Population Commission’s desk in Hospital/Health Centers; and other designated places by the commission.
The occurrence of births, deaths or stillbirths is reported to the registrar, who will ask for specific information in a form to immediately issue a certificate. The NPC’s B1 form for birth registrars captures the child’s information in four components: (i) the identification section (birth place of the child, registration centre-village/town/LGA, state of origin of the child, entry number and date of registration); (ii) the particulars of the child (name of the child, date of birth, sex and place of occurrence); (iii) the particulars of the mother/father (name, address, age, marital status, nationality, occupation and literacy level); and (iv) the particulars of the informant/care givers (relationship of informant to the child, full names and address of the respective informant). The registrars at the community level collates the completed forms and forward it to a Deputy Chief Registrar (DCR) at the LGA level. The DCR checks the forms and send them to a vital registration Head of Department (HOD) at the state level. There are 37 HODs in all the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Download full report, including tables, and statistical snapshots: https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/reports/2021-multiple-indicator-cluster-survey-national-immunization-coverage-survey-report