REPORTER: CHRIS NWANNAH
The National Population Commission, NPC, has commenced the digital registration of births and deaths across the country.
The digital process will be carried out on its VitalReg Platform, under the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, E-CRVS system.
The Federal Commissioner Representing Anambra State in the commission, Nze Chidi Ezeoke, disclosed this during a Press Briefing in Awka.
Nze Ezeoke, stressed that the digital registration, which became operational on the first of July, this year, follows the inauguration of the National Coordination Committee on CRVS by President Bola Tinubu in November, 2023.
“The digital innovation is one of the most transformative reforms in the history of civil registration in Nigeria. It reflects the commission’s unwavering commitment to leveraging technology to improve service delivery, strengthen data integrity and guarantee that every birth and every death occuring in Nigeria is documented accurately and securely”, Nze Ezeoke affirmed.
He said the process marked a critical step in efforts to build a modern, efficient and technology- driven civil registration system.
Nze Ezeoke, urged the citizens to embrace the digital registration, emphasizing that it would promote the generation of reliable national statistics to guide public policy, resource allocation and development planning.
The NPC Federal Commissioner, lamented that millions of births and deaths were not registered in the country, noting that death registration had remained below twenty percent.
“Nigeria records an estimated five million births annually, yet millions of these births and deaths go unregistered. Birth registration coverage currently stands at about 57 percent nationwide, while death registration remains below 20 percent. These gaps deprive many Nigerians of legal identity and limit the availability of reliable data needed for effective national planning”, he noted.
Nze Ezeoke stated that the commission had established four thousand and eleven functional registration centres across the 774 Local Government Areas in the country, with one hundred and thirty one of them located in Anambra State to help people access it easily.
“The commission is also strengthening collaboration with key stakeholders to enhance the capacity of registration personnel and guarantee that all vital events are promptly and accurately recorded through the VitalReg platform. The platform is designed to modernize birth and death documentation and improve citizen’s access to these services nationwide”, Nze Ezeoke pointed out.
In a speech, the Director, NPC in Anambra State, Mr Obiakonwa Okagwu, described the electronic registration as a shift from the traditional methods to a modern and secure digital solution.
“VitalReg is a comprehensive electronic platform designed to modernize and streamline the entire civil registration process”, Mr Okagwu stated.
Contributing, the Head, CRVS, NPC, Anambra State Headquarters, Awka, Mrs Ebele Okeke, challenged the media to help in promoting the relevance of the new initiative to ensure its success.
The programme was also used in commemorating the 2026 World Population day.
