Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umar Radda, has launched an electronic birth registration system designed to ensure that every child in the state is legally recognised, protected, and empowered from birth.
Speaking at the launch in Katsina, Governor Radda said the initiative marks a major step in his administration’s commitment to ensuring that no child remains invisible — legally, socially, or statistically.
“Birth registration is far more than a bureaucratic procedure; it is the first legal affirmation of a child’s identity,” Radda said. “Without it, children exist in a shadow of vulnerability to exploitation, exclusion, and deletion from the very systems meant to serve them.”
He noted that millions of Nigerian children still lack legal identity, leaving them excluded from education, healthcare, social protection, and justice.
“This is not just a system failure, it is a moral deficit we must urgently correct,” he said. “Under this administration, birth registration is no longer an afterthought; it is a co-pillar of child protection and inclusive governance.”
To enhance access, the governor directed that ward and village heads across Katsina State be designated as permanent birth registration centres, embedding the process at the community level for sustainability and cultural acceptance.
Governor Radda commended development partners and called on traditional and religious leaders to mobilize parents and guardians to register every newborn child.
In his remarks, the Director-General of the National Population Commission (NPC), Osifo Tellson-Ojogun, described the exercise as a transformative milestone in Nigeria’s civil registration and vital statistics modernization agenda.
“Birth registration constitutes the fundamental recognition of a child’s existence and identity. Without it, a child is nowhere,” he said.
Also speaking, the Chief of UNICEF Field Office, Kano, Rahama Rihood Farah, said the launch builds on a nationwide digital transition that began in 2023 and represents a new chapter in ensuring that every child in Katsina is counted and recognised from birth.
He said the initiative, implemented with the leadership of the NPC and collaboration from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), has brought registration closer to the people, right to the ward and community levels.
Farah commended Katsina’s leadership for its commitment, noting that UNICEF had supported the process through the provision of digital equipment, training for ward registrars, and community awareness campaigns to ensure sustainability.
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