The failure to register millions of children at birth could undermine government planning and funding for schools, healthcare and social protection, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned.
Chief of the UNICEF Lagos Field Office, Celine Lafoucriere, disclosed this during a two-day Birth Registration Media Dialogue held at Patron Hotel, Sangotedo, Lagos State.
Lafoucriere said about 3.5 million children under the age of one across Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and Edo states are currently not registered at birth.
According to her, the children are effectively invisible in Nigeria’s civil registration system, creating a gap between the population that exists and the population reflected in official records.
“About 3.5 million children under the age of one are not registered currently,” she said.
She warned that the consequences extend beyond the absence of a birth certificate, as unregistered children could be overlooked when governments plan and allocate funds for education, healthcare and social protection.
“If 3.5 million children are still not registered, they will go unnoticed, and there will be no government funding to support them simply because they are invisible,” Lafoucriere said.
Birth Registration Critical to Government Planning
Reliable population data is essential for local and state governments planning basic services.
Authorities need accurate information on the number and location of children and families to determine the required number of classrooms, teachers, primary healthcare facilities, medicines and other services.
UNICEF warned that unregistered children could therefore create gaps in planning, with communities potentially appearing to have fewer children than they actually do.
Over time, such discrepancies could affect projections for school enrolment, healthcare demand and other social services.
Lafoucriere said the issue was particularly important as Nigeria continues efforts to strengthen its social protection system.
She explained that government programmes must be financed according to the number of people expected to benefit from them, warning that children missing from the civil register risk being excluded from those calculations.
“Having a civil register is very important. But in that civil register, no child that is not registered at birth will exist,” she said.
UNICEF: Birth Certificate Is More Than a Document
Lafoucriere described birth registration as a fundamental right of every child and urged Nigerians not to view a birth certificate as merely a piece of paper.
She said registration establishes a child’s legal identity and can facilitate access to education, healthcare and other essential services.
It can also become important later in life when obtaining travel documents, participating in civic activities and establishing inheritance rights.
“A birth certificate is not a piece of paper. It is a child’s ticket into school. It is what allows a doctor to put a name on a patient file,” she said.
Without registration, children may face repeated difficulties proving their identity as they grow into adulthood.
UNICEF Highlights Progress, Challenges
Despite the registration gap, UNICEF acknowledged progress in the region.
Lafoucriere said Lagos State, in collaboration with the National Population Commission and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), was among the first states in southern Nigeria to formally launch birth registration for children under one.
She also noted that birth certificates are now linked with a National Identification Number, describing the development as a significant step forward.
However, she stressed that the progress had not closed the registration gap.
“In every state represented in this room, the gap between children who are registered and children who are not is still too wide,” she said.
UNICEF said parents do not necessarily fail to register their children deliberately.
Lafoucriere said many families were unaware that birth registration is free or that services may be available at nearby primary healthcare centres and community locations.
Geographical isolation also remains a challenge in some communities, with some parents willing to register their children but unable to easily reach registration points.
She added that the digitalisation of birth registration was not yet fully functional in all locations.
According to her, UNICEF is supporting government efforts to digitalise the system and take registration services closer to families, including through tablets deployed at ward level.
UNICEF Urges Media to Raise Awareness
Lafoucriere urged journalists to use their platforms to increase awareness of birth registration, particularly among vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities.
She said families could be reached more effectively when information is delivered in languages they understand, through platforms they use and by voices they trust.
“Your story can change all that,” she told journalists, urging them to go beyond statistics and report the experiences of families, children and healthcare workers.
She said journalists, government agencies, civil society organisations and development partners all have a role to play in ensuring every Nigerian child is registered.
“The Southwest is doing slightly better than other regions, but we cannot leave a single child unregistered,” Lafoucriere said.
She added that birth registration must remain a priority because every child needs to be visible in Nigeria’s civil registration system.
