14.5m children registered as Nigeria pushes for legal identity for every child

… 6,000 wards now offer digital birth registration — NPC… FG links birth registration with health, identity systemsBy Chioma ObinnaAs Nigeria joined other African countries to mark the 2026 Africa Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, CRVS, over 14.5 million Nigerian children have been registered under the country’s intensified birth registration drive even as the Federal Government moves to ensure that every child born in the country has a legal identity.

The National Population Commission, NPC, disclosed that digital birth registration services are now available in more than 6,000 of the country’s 8,809 wards, with registration increasingly linked to health facilities and community outreach programmes.

The 2026 commemoration, which marks the beginning of the new CRVS decade, 2026–2036, is focused on consolidating gains made under the African Programme on Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, APAI-CRVS, through integration, decentralisation and digitalisation.

The NPC Chairman, Dr Aminu Yusuf, said the commission’s priority was to ensure that no child was excluded from legal recognition because of where he or she was born.

He said: “Every registered birth strengthens the foundation for child protection and national development.