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…Says birth registration at 57%, death registration below 20%
The National Population Commission (NPC) has officially commenced the nationwide rollout of the VitalReg platform, a digital Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (e-CRVS) system designed to modernize how vital life events are recorded in Nigeria.
The initiative aims to address a critical data gap: currently, birth registration coverage in Nigeria stands at just 57%, while death registration languishes below 20%, leaving millions of citizens undocumented and stripping the country of critical demographic data needed for national planning.
The Scale of the Challenge
According to NPC Chairman, Dr. Aminu Yusuf, Nigeria records an estimated five million births annually. However, because a massive portion of these births, and subsequent deaths, go unregistered, millions of Nigerians are left without a legal identity.
“These gaps deprive many Nigerians of legal identity and limit the availability of reliable data needed for effective national planning,” Dr. Aminu Yusuf, NPC Chairman said.
He added that “these gaps deprive many Nigerians of legal identity and limit the availability of reliable data needed for effective national planning.”
He described the nationwide rollout of the VitalReg platform as one of the most transformative reforms in Nigeria’s civil registration history, adding that the system had been operational across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory since July 1.
According to him, the platform will modernise birth and death registration by providing faster and efficient services, 24-hour online access, digital certificate issuance, reduced paperwork and improved data validation.
Yusuf added that the platform would also enhance security, strengthen credibility of the national Civil Registration and Vital Statistics database and provide foundational database to support other national data systems.
He said the platform would secure interoperability with institutions across Nigeria’s digital identity ecosystem, thereby strengthening service delivery and supporting Federal Government’s digital transformation agenda.
The chairman said the commission had established 4,011 functional registration centres across the 774 local government areas and was expanding the network to about 8,000 centres nationwide.
“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,” he said.
Yusuf announced a partnership involving the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), UNICEF and Barnfort Technologies Limited to decentralise birth registration and improve access to registration services at the community level.
He also announced a review of fees for specialised administrative services, including record modification, certificate re-issuance, attestation and verification requests, while assuring Nigerians that birth registration and birth notification services would remain highly subsidised.
“Let me assure Nigerians that this review is not intended to create barriers to access. Birth registration and birth notification services remain highly subsidised, in line with the commission’s commitment to achieving universal registration,” he said.
Yusuf said that to guarantee reliability, security and nationwide availability, the platform was being operated under a Public-Private Partnership arrangement with Barnksforte Technologies Ltd, a Nigerian IT solution provider serving as the commission’s technical partner.
He said that this would ensure continuous system availability, cybersecurity protection and technological improvements.
“The success of this historic reform depends on active participation of all stakeholders and every Nigerian.
“I, therefore, call on all stakeholders to continue working with the commission to ensure that all births and deaths are registered promptly.”(NAN
