Why Births, Deaths Digital Registrations Are Paramount, Says NPC

The National Population Commission (NPC) has stated that henceforth, registration of new born babies and deaths in the country will be computerised so as to ensure proper records and abate the shortfalls of the manual method used in the past.

Director of Information Communication Technology of the NPC, Dr. Bertram Chukwubuike, stated this on Monday at the opening ceremony of three-day capacity building training on births and deaths digital registration organised by the commission in collaboration with UNICEF for stakeholders in Bauchi.

He said digital registration is key to better and accurate data collection for planning and sustainable national development.

"Vital Registration in Nigeria given the output from the National Population Commission needs to be strengthened and coordinated at various tiers of government.

"Effective governments all over the world that believe in good governance rely on their citizens demographic database with reliable vital statistics like births, deaths, marriages among others for efficient and effective delivery of such services and plan for sustainable development," he pointed out.

Also speaking, the Director of the commission in Bauchi State, Musa Haruna Rashid, explained that the importance of digital births and deaths registration is making capturing of data easier, faster and accurate.

He added that the system would also help in linking relevant ministries and agencies such as National Bureau of Statistics, courts, National Identity Management Commission, Federal Road safety commission among others to have accurate and same data for analyses.

In his remarks, Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Sabiu Kafi, commended the NPC for organising the training, saying it was timely especially in this digital era.