Nigeria Population Commission, NPC, says it has registered 424,302 births in Gombe State, Northeastern Nigeria between January and November.
Gatekeepers News reports that 44.13 per cent (187,283) of those registered were girls while 237,019 or 55.86 per cent were boys.
The Head of NPC’s Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Gombe State, Adedeji Adeniyi gave the details on Friday in Gombe.
Adeniyi said the registrations, done in the more than 100 registration centres in the state covered children of between 0 year and 17 years.
According to him, 76,900 of those registered were children below the age of one year, adding that 33,760 of them were girls while 43,140 were boys.
Those between one year old and four years old numbered 285,010, he said, adding that 125,230 of them were girls, while 159,780 were boys.
Those between four years and 17 years of age numbered 62,392 children. The girls were 28,293 in number while the boys numbered 34,099.
He added that the NPC had stepped up measures and engaged in partnerships with critical stakeholders in the state to encourage birth registration.
Adeniyi said that it had migrated frothe m analogue mode of birth registration to the digital platform in partnership with UNICEF.
According to him, the shift from analogue to electronic mode had made birth registration seamless and called on residents yet to register their births to do so, adding that birth registration data was vital for the government’s planning and intervention.
He said, “Birth registration and certification is important to give children identity and nationality as well as access to social amenities.’’
He, however. decried the poor registration of deaths in the state.
Adeniyi said, “Residents of Gombe do not register the death of their loved ones; it is only when they want to collect certain benefits that require such certificate, that they show up for such registration.
“I call on residents to register the deaths of their relatives as that will help the government to have a proper plan to make positive decisions on happenings in the environment.
“Registering deaths gives the idea of prevailing causes of death and such statistics are vital for planning also.’’
Meanwhile, the National Population Commission says it has recorded 57 per cent of digital birth registration across 23 states.
The Director, Vital Registration, NPC, Sunday Matthew, last October stressed the need for parents to register their children at birth.
Matthew said, “We have been speaking to parents, especially mothers on the need to register their children at birth.
“We are automating the processes of childbirth registration to ensure that there will be no double registration.”
