The mobilisation exercise supported by UNICEF was also in collaboration with the National Population Commission (NPC).
Recall that NOA has launched a nationwide birth registration (BR) for every Nigerian child.
Mr Theophilus Nwokpor, NOA’s Director in Ebonyi, said at a news conference in Abakaliki on Thursday that the exercise was to address the low level of birth registration not only in the state but in Nigeria at large.
Nwokpor said the Agency was ready to implement a robust mobilisation across the 13 local government areas of Ebonyi.
He called for an urgent need to improve the nation’s birth registration data for better socio-economic planning.
“It is essential to note that the NPC is transiting from manual birth registration to Electronic Civic Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) where the photo of the child will equally be captured and the NIN of one of the parents will be captured during the registration.
“The mobilisation exercise is mainly targeting children aged 0-5 years. The information collected from birth registration records helps the government decide where and how to spend money and what areas to focus on for development programmes,” the Director said.
Mrs Jeremiah Nwankegu, Federal Commissioner of NPC, Ebonyi office, called for the need to embrace the registration exercise, stating that the drive aimed at being registered and acquiring the National Identification Number (NIN) for every child.
Nwankegu, represented by Mrs Agnes Eche, NPC’s Director, said the registration was targeting children between the ages of zero and five, free of charge,” he added.
The Commissioner assured that NPC ad-hoc staff would adopt house–to–house visits to ensure a successful registration exercise across the 13 local government areas of the state.
“The registration is for six months and we will ensure all children are registered during the exercise,” he said
Mrs Florence Ofim, Supervisor of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in Ebonyi, described birth registration as an essential key to national development.
“NIN registration is also important for you to have birth registration of your child. Bring your child for registration, and he or she will be registered,” Ofim said.
