Between January and November, the Nigeria Population Commission (NPC) registered 424,302 births in Gombe State. Of this total, 44.13% (187,283 births) were girls, while 55.86% (237,019 births) were boys.
The registrations, conducted across more than 100 registration centers in the state, encompassed children aged 0 to 17 years.
Mr. Adedeji Adeniyi, the head of NPC’s Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Gombe State, provided further details, indicating that 76,900 of the registered births were children below the age of one.
Among them, 33,760 were girls, and 43,140 were boys. Children between one and four years old numbered 285,010, with 125,230 girls and 159,780 boys.
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Additionally, there were 62,392 children between four and 17 years old, comprising 28,293 girls and 34,099 boys.
Adeniyi highlighted NPC’s efforts to encourage birth registration, including partnerships with stakeholders and a transition from analog to digital registration in collaboration with UNICEF.
He emphasized the importance of birth registration for children’s identity, nationality, and access to social amenities, urging residents who have not registered births to do so, as the data is crucial for government planning and intervention.
However, Adeniyi expressed concern about the low registration of deaths in the state, noting that residents often only register deaths when required for specific benefits.
He called on residents to register deaths promptly, as this information is essential for understanding prevailing causes of death and aids in effective planning.
The National Population Commission reported a 57% digital birth registration across 23 states.
Sunday Matthew, the Director of Vital Registration at NPC, stressed the importance of parents registering their children at birth, emphasizing the ongoing automation of childbirth registration processes to prevent double registration.
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