Between January and November 2023, the Nigeria Population Commission (NPC) said it recorded a total of 424,302 births in Gombe State.
According to the report, out of these registered births, 44.13 per cent, which is equivalent to 187,283, were girls, while 55.86 per cent, or 237,019, were boys.
The head of NPC’s Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the state, Adedeji Adeniyi, provided these details during a briefing in Gombe on Friday, December 29, Naija News understands.
The registrations were conducted across more than 100 registration centres in the state and encompassed children aged between 0 and 17 years. Among the registered children, 76,900 were below the age of one, with 33,760 being girls and 43,140 being boys.
Additionally, there were 285,010 children between the ages of one and four, with 125,230 girls and 159,780 boys.
The NPC noted also that there were 62,392 children between the ages of four and 17, consisting of 28,293 girls and 34,099 boys.
Adeniyi emphasized that the NPC has taken proactive measures and established partnerships with key stakeholders in the state to promote birth registration.
He mentioned that the transition from the traditional method of birth registration to the digital platform was accomplished through collaboration with UNICEF.
Furthermore, he emphasized that this shift to electronic registration has greatly simplified the process and urged individuals who have not yet registered their births to take immediate action. He also highlighted the significance of birth registration data for the government’s strategic planning and intervention efforts.
“Birth registration and certification is important to give children identity and nationality as well as access to social amenities,’’ The PUNCH quoted Adeniyi saying.
He, however, decried the poor registration of deaths in the state.
He 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.”
Naija News understands that NPC had earlier announced that digital birth registration had reached 57 per cent in 23 states.
Last October, the Director of Vital Registration at NPC, Sunday Matthew, emphasized the importance of parents registering their children at birth during a conversation with our correspondent.
He 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.”
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