How E-birth Registration, Marriage, and Death Will Benefit Nigerians
The Nigerian government is set to digitalise the manual registration of vital events in the country with the introduction of the electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System (e-CRVS).
The e-CRVS and National Geospatial Data Repository will be launched by President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday, November 8, 2023.
According to Dr. Isiaka Yahaya, the Director of Public Affairs at the National Population Commission (NPC), the transition to digital registrations of births, marriages, deaths, stillbirths, and divorces aims to strengthen data capture, collation, processing, dissemination, and ensure timely access to vital statistics in the country.
“The initiative will expedite the improvement of civil registration and vital statistics systems in Nigeria over a 10-year period, from 2023 to 2030, in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG): legal identity for all, including birth registration,” Yahaya stated.
In addition to the shift from paper-based registration to digital methods, the e-CRVS system will yield data that can serve various purposes, including informing public policy, facilitating healthcare planning, and enhancing resource allocation. Moreover, it will enable Nigerians to access vital statistics, such as child mortality rates and births, promptly and comprehensively across the country.
The absence of a digital record system has led to the loss of crucial data in Nigeria. Misplaced birth certificates are often challenging to trace and can become subjects of scrutiny.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in their Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2021 report, said that 43 percent of Nigerian children were not registered at birth and, consequently, remained legally invisible.
Nasir Kwarra, the Chairman of the NPC, stated during a pre-launch briefing on Monday, November 6, 2023, “This process marks a complete departure from traditional paper-based recording of vital events to a state-of-the-art digital solution that adheres to international best practices. This electronic CRVS promises to revolutionise how vital events are recorded, tracked, and analysed in the country.”
