Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State launched the e-birth registration exercise on Friday.

During the launch, Mr Radda said the e-birth registration was aimed at ensuring that every child was registered, protected, and empowered.

The governor described the registration as important and historic, stating that it was a commitment to the future of children in the state.

“Birth registration is far more than a bureaucratic procedure; it is the first legal affirmation of a child’s identity. It is the foundational document that unlocks their right to education, healthcare, inheritance, social protection, and full participation in civil life.

”Without it, children exist in a shadow of vulnerability to exploitation, exclusion, and deletion from a system meant to serve them,” he said.

Mr Radda stated that for too long, millions of children across Nigeria had grown up without basic recognition.

He said this had led to their absence from schools, exclusion from enrollment records, exclusion from vaccination drives, and denial of access to justice when their rights were violated.

“This is not only a failure of the system; it is a moral deficit that we must urgently address.

“Under this administration, birth registration is no longer an afterthought; it is a co-pillar of child protection and inclusive governance,” he said.

According to him, the strategic decision embeds the registration process at the heart of our community, ensuring accessibility, cultural acceptance, and long-term sustainability.

The governor also urged traditional and religious leaders to champion the exercise by encouraging parents and guardians to register every newborn.

Earlier, Osifo Tellson-Ojogun, director-general of the National Population Commission (NPC), said the exercise is a transformative milestone in Nigeria’s civil registration and vital statistics modernisation agenda.

He emphasised that birth registration constitutes fundamental recognition of a child’s existence and identity, without which a child is nowhere.

Rahama Farah, chief of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Kano field office, said that over the past year, they had transitioned from planning and pilot phases to a more sustainable, community-driven model of birth registration.

Ms Farah added that through NPC’s leadership and active collaboration with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and others, the process had been brought closer to the people.

“This transition demonstrates the state’s strong commitment to ensuring every child possesses a legal identity, especially newborn children.

“UNICEF is proud to have supported this process through procurement of essential equipment and digital gadgets, enabling effective and real-time registration across the state,” she said.

(NAN)