Obiano, NPC, UNICEF charge Anambrarians to register birth, death at summit

www.odogwublog.com reports that Governor Willie Obiano yesterday charged Anambra citizens to see it as their civil obligation to register births and deaths to get right the National data.
Obiano stated this at a one-day stakeholders’ summit for the religious leaders of the Anglican and Catholic churches on birth and death registration organized by the National Population Commission Anambra State in collaboration with UNICEF in Awka.
Governor Obiano represented by the Permanent Secretary, ministry of special Duties, Uche Nworah, a lawyer, called on all to support the NPC to achieve its goal of getting the National Data right.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Joe Akabuike, stressed the importance of statistics in planning saying government partnership with the church has yielded positive results in many areas especially education and checking diseases like sickle cell.

In a speech, the Deputy Director in Vital statistics, NPC, Abuja, Hajia Zainab Mahmoud, hinted that the promulgation of births and deaths compulsory registration decree in 1979, marked the commencement of a universal registration system in the country while subsequent laws in 1992 gave the National Population Commission authority to register the events.
 In a welcome address, the Federal Commissioner Representing Anambra State in the NPC, Professor Chika Moore, noted that effective management of the country’s population for sustainable development requires collections, processing and dissemination of demographic data not only through periodic census, but also through birth, death and migration vital for planning.

In a goodwill message, the Chief Field Officer UNICEF Nigeria, Enugu Field Office, Mr. Charles Nzuki whose goodwill message urged on “building Partnerships To Boost Birth Registration in Anambra State” pointed out that from the perspective of the Nigerian Constitution and United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child, birth registration is a fundamental human right because it guarantees the child the right to an identity.
The Anambra State Director of NPC, J.O.J Ulasi, in a paper presentation, described vital registration as a continuous and systematic registration of vital events that has to do with an individual’s entrance into and exit from life.
Mr Ulasi explained that these include live birth, deaths, still births marriage, divorces, separation and adoption noting that these churches had always registered these events during baptism and burial ceremonies and appealed to them to assist the NPC achieve the goal.