Ahead of the flag-off of e-birth registration for children in Ekiti State, no fewer than 700 adhoc staff have been trained by the National Population Commission (NPC) for the exercise.
The director of the commission in the state, Yemisi Ipinlaye, who disclosed this in Ado Ekiti, the state capital said the exercise will soon commence across the 16 local government areas of the state.
Ipinlaye said children mostly between ages 0-5 are being targeted for capturing for the digital birth registration.
The NPC boss who noted that preparations for the exercise were on top gear added that it was aimed at getting children within the age group digitised birth certificates.
The e-birth registration, according to her would afford the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), ministries, and other relevant agencies and organisations the opportunity of having of have access to the children’s database in the country in a digital format.
Ipinlaye said the trained personnel are to be deployed to work alongside registrars and controllers across the 16 local government areas and 22 Local Council Development Areas, (LCDAs) to collect and collate data.
She added that the NPC will also incorporate the use of the National Identity Number (NIN) for each child to ensure seamless registration in the future.
“The benefit of digital birth registration is that we want every child in the age range of 0-5 to have a birth certificate in a digitalised form.
“We want them to be on the NPC and UNICEF portal and database. If there is anything they want to do, they will refer to it.
“UNICEF is interested in all their programs; they have an interest in children between the ages of 0 and 5. We employed people from outside, ad hoc staff with our registrars and controllers who have been doing this job.
“These are the people who will directly go to people at the grassroots to collect their data.
“Our people will reach everyone, including those who gave birth with traditional attendants.
“We have not started the exercise in Ekiti; we are still in training, but we are likely to commence on Friday.
“We are training almost 700 people. They are in categories, and the identity card people are among them because those who have not gotten NIN will be there to get it.
“We are integrating NIN into the ID cards. When the parents come to register their children, they will do the NIN for the child too because it is required.”.
While dismissing the claim in some quarters that digital birth registration was a strategy designed to reduce the population of the country, she said, “The people saying digital birth registration is a way of controlling population are ignorant of its actual mission. Had they been trained; they would not talk like that”.
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