60% of Nigerian Births Not Registered

2

UNICEF-LOGO

Brand Nigeria no doubt is the most populous in Africa but the actual figure of Nigeria’s population has remained unknown, no thanks to act of negligence by most of her citizens.  A recent report by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has it that about 60 per cent births of Nigerian children are not registered, a situation, the organisation said amounted to a denial of civil rights.

In a statement to mark UNICEF’s 67th anniversary, the organisation said many Nigerian children’s births are not registered, though there appears to be some positive results in recent years.
Speaking on the development, UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria, Jean Gough, said “the situation in Nigeria is improving. We see the overall growth and progress in Birth Registration of children under 5 years old – from 30% (MICS 2007) to 41.5% (MICS 2011). However, when you take a closer look at the available data, not all children have benefited from this progress. Children from poorest households saw only a slight increase – from 9% to 12%; whereas their richest counterparts increased from 51% to 76%.”

The organisation globally released a new report showing that the births of nearly 230 million children under-five have never been registered; approximately 1 in 3 of all children under-five around the world.

Editor’s Picks  Power Outage: Shiroro-Katampe transmission line vandalised - TCN