By Lucky Isibor
The Edo State office of the National Population Commission (NPC), has called on parents to register their children whose ages range between zero and five years with the commission to enable them have birth certificate.
The Edo State Federal commissioner of NPC, Dr Tony Aiyejina who was represented by Mrs. Rita Aigbokhan , the Edo State Director of NPC, made the call in Benin City while speaking with newsmen on the sideline at the quarterly meeting of the Edo State Child Rights Implementation Committee (CRIC).
He assured parents and guardians that the registration of birth from zero to five years is being carried out by the commission in collaboration with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNCEF) is free, pointing out that the registration is taking place at the immunisation centres across all the communities in the state and appealed to parents to take advantage of the free registration exercise to register their children.
He disclosed that the children’s birth registration by the commission is done on digital platform and would be issued the National Identification Number (NIN) once the birth certificate is issued.
According to him, “We’re sensitising the public on e-registration of births in Edo State and nation wide. We’re going from health centre to health centre, we are also going to communities, churches to register children who are between the ages of o to 5 years. We have been registering them on analogue, but now we’re going digital. We have ad-hoc staff that are helping us to register such children. Please, try to register your child when you see them, because birth certificate that will be issued after the registration is needed for so many things for the children; for school enrollment, travelling documents and many other things.
“The registration doesn’t cost the parents anything, just give the registration officers all the information they require about that child. It is free. The certificate will be issued to the parents at a later date. We are doing it in collaboration with UNICEF.
It is a means of identification, it can be used by parents to open bank account for their children.
We collaborate with the National identity card management commission and they’ll issue the children registered NIN”.