NEW ECOWAS COMMISSION PRESIDENT GEN BIRAME DIOP ASSUMES OFFICE. (PHOTO).
The campaign to ensure that every Nigerian child has a legal identity is moving closer to the point of birth, as the National Population Commission, UNICEF and other partners take birth registration and vital statistics services directly to Wuse general hospital, Abuja.
The exercise, organized as part of activities marking the 2026 Africa Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Day, is placing particular emphasis on Primary Healthcare Centres, where mothers and caregivers can register their newborns and obtain birth certificates without having to travel long distances to registration offices.
The Chairman of the National Population Commission, Dr. Aminu Yusuf, joins UNICEF Nigeria officials to monitor the exercise and engage parents and caregivers on the importance of registering every birth.
The engagement also provided an opportunity to explain to families that birth registration goes beyond obtaining a certificate. It gives a child a legal identity, establishes proof of age and identity, and strengthens access to essential services and protection throughout life.
For many parents at the health facilities, the moment their children received their birth certificates was both significant and reassuring.
The certificates represent the child's first formal recognition by the state — an official record that can support access to education, healthcare, social protection and other services as the child grows.
For the National Population Commission, taking registration services to health facilities is part of a broader strategy to ensure that distance, lack of information or the location of a child's birth does not prevent registration.
The Commission says the initiative is being expanded to health facilities nationwide, particularly Primary Healthcare Centres, where a large number of births take place.
Beyond health facilities, the NPC is also developing ward-level.
More photos below.
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