Registration of births is critical to planning
Recent reports from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) that an estimated 19 million children are not captured in the population data of Nigeria after birth should compel urgent action from the authorities. A child protection specialist working for UNICEF, Sharon Oladiji, who raised the alarm during a workshop for stakeholders, media and health personnel in Kano, also stated that it is most rampant across the 19 northern states.
According to the report, the population of 10 other countries with unregistered births will increase tremendously by 2050. The report further said that countries like Kenya and Niger Republic would contribute an estimated 50 million and Sudan with 38 million to the growing population of unregistered births. What is responsible for this state of affair and what effect does it pose on Nigeria and its population data? The answer is not farfetched.
One immediate cause of unregistered births is…
Source: Thisday Newspaper
