Birth registration: NPC begins training of officials in Oyo

National Population Commission (NPC) in Oyo State, on Tuesday, commenced training for field officials for the registration of births in the state.

Speaking during the celebration of the 2024 World Population Day, with the theme: ‘Embracing the Power of Inclusive Data Towards a Resilient and Equitable Future for All,’ the state Federal Commissioner of the NPC, Dr Eyitayo Oyetunji, highlighted the importance of birth registration, saying it would assist the government to plan for its citizens.

The event also witnessed the flag-off of the training of officials, including ad-hoc volunteers, for the registration of births of children from zero to five years of age.

Dr Oyetunji stated that World Population Day is used to focus attention on some topical issues regarding global population issues, adding that this year’s theme is to emphasise how to leverage data to be able to get an accurate information on the number of people living in a country.

“The census is the picture of a country at a particular period in time, and once you have some indicators, like the number of births, deaths, those migrating in and out of the country, then you will be able to plan for the people.

“Therefore, UNICEF is partnering with the Nigerian government to clear a backlog of unregistered births from zero to five years of age. This is what we are doing in Oyo State as well.

“Once registered, the government will have an accurate information on the number of children in this age bracket and will be able to plan for them properly in terms of education, health, etc.”

Also speaking on the occasion, a representative of the Oyo State government, Dr Gbolahan Abass, who is an official in the Ministry of Health, commended the NPC and UNICEF for the partnership, adding that this would enable the government to have a proper number of children in a particular area.

He said: “Most times, when we go to some areas for intervention programmes, we discover that the number of people in such areas is different from what we have on record, so this step will help us address this.”

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