Lagos: Paul Okunola had lost his mother and needed a death certificate to process her benefits from the government. His mother served in the civil service until her death. ‘I got a paper copy of the death registration needed to obtain the death certificate from the hospital where my mother was treated before her demise,’ Okunola said. Luckily he got the certificate but Okunola was expecting the details of her mother digitized and accessible from the health facility she died at but that wasn’t the case. ‘But it would be more beneficial if the process can be digitised and secure such that it will be without compromise and one can access with evidence of being a next of kin,’ he said.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, only a handful of Nigerians are aware of the importance of vital registration. Vital registration covers accumulated data gathered on live birth, death, migration, foetal deaths, marriages and divorce. Without legal proof of identity, millions of children born today do not ‘officially’ exist. Similarly, without records on deaths and migration, adequate planning and implementation of policies would be in jeopardy. A researcher, Mrs. Modupe Olusolape, said the awareness created on the need for Nigerians to have their vital registration done has been very poor. ‘The question on why vital registration exists, how to register and where to register is still unanswered for many people,’ Olusolape said.
According to her, if Nigerians are aware of how their vital registration is tied to identity, then the system for such a database needs to be strengthened such that there will be no identity fraud or any cyber security issues. ‘Sufficient information dissemination needs to take place so that people who are having children or losing loved ones know and so on would know why they should record such information with the government. Then the government should tell them where to do it and make the process easy for them so that the data can be used for economic planning and engender digital transformation,’ she said.
Also, a data analyst, Mr. Oluwaleke Oni, said digitising vital registration in Nigeria would be a transformative step towards national development, fostering efficiency, inclusivity, and transparency. According to him, by modernising how life events are recorded, the country can improve accessibility, ensure data accuracy, and unlock benefits that strengthen governance, boost economic growth, and promote social equity. He, however, said that achieving this vision would require investment in infrastructure, capacity building, public awareness, and robust cyber security measures. ‘With a comprehensive strategy, digitisation will empower citizens, strengthen institutions, and drive digital transformation progress across all sectors of society,’ Oni said.
A Health Consultant, Mr. Yemi Osanyin, said digitalising vital registration is the way to go as data is critical to Nigeria’s development and growth from birth registration to death and other vital areas. He noted that efforts have been made to ensure the digitalisation of vital records in Nigeria to support developmental projects and better identify people. The pace of digitalisation of vital registration processes has been slow though and serious challenges of lack of interoperability still exist.
Around September 2024, the government kicked off online registration of births across the country but the awareness is very poor as many Nigerians do not know about the online records. The birth certificate issuance officer at Ologuneru Primary Health Centre in Ibadan, Oyo State, said those who want to register their wards’ birth would have to go to the designated centres assigned for the purpose. According to him, the National Population Commission (NPC) has offices across all the local government areas in Oyo State but it is only at the designated centres that the online birth registration can be done. For instance, in Ido Local Government Area (LGA) only four centres have been designated.
This in a way serves as a barrier to digital transformation as in the whole of Ido LGA with the land mass and population put at 986 square kilometres and 103,261 respectively, four centres proves insufficient for online birth registration. On the self-service option provided by NPC there are 10 steps to follow with three criteria which include that the child must be born in Nigeria, the child must have a National Identification Number (NIN) and at least one parent must be Nigerian and have a valid birth certificate. But how many Nigerians can go through with these procedures with a digital literacy ratio put at about 50 to 60 per cent out of a 230 million population. So far, the policy lacks inclusivity, experts have argued.
An NPC officer-in-Charge at Ido LGA, Mr. Sola Oguntowo, said the digitalisation had started since last year but they have not yet been issuing the certificate. He noted that there has been provision for those who need the birth certificate for other purposes otherwise they can get the manual birth certificate. ‘People can do the birth registration of their wards at these four centres Ido PHC on Tuesday and Wednesday which are the immunisation days. He noted that the commission also goes to private hospitals to get babies registered but the main place to register were the four aforementioned PHCs.
Oguntowo said the digitalisation started last year but the records could not be accessed by people. ‘The database of births is being created for now. We only register them online, access to the data collected is restricted,’ he said. But what happened to those who give birth at places other than the hospital or those who died not having the privilege of medical care in a hospital in either public or private facilities? These issues among others continued to bother experts who believed the government should rise to take issues of vital registration as crucial and pivotal to security and development for digital public infrastructure in the country.