The Yola South Local Government in Adamawa State is to insist on children presenting birth certificates before they could be enrolled in primary school.
The government says the policy is meant to encourage the registration of all children born in the area.
Speaking during a nationwide birth registration, advocacy and social mobilization drive organized by the National Orientation Agency, NOA, in conjunction with National Population Commission, National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, and the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, Education Secretary of the Yola South LGA, Abba Bawuro said that to ensure the success of the new drive, a meeting with 82 head teachers agreed that before enrollment into nursery and primary schools, interested pupils must produce their birth certificates.
Also speaking, the Director General of NOA, Mallam Lanre Onilu said birth registration is relevant addition to data which is important for planning.
“Government will find it difficult to plan how to address the welfare of the citizens especially in providing social services in absence of data. We need to contribute our quota by discharging this very important responsibility.
“Getting the birth registration and obtaining National Identification Number (NIN) will make it easier for the children to obtain a number of social services with ease in the future. It is better to get them now,” Okoji said.
Also speaking, Fatima Aliyu and Adamu Sulaiman Abbo, representatives of NIMC and NPC respectively, said birth registration for children is free, calling on parents to take advantage to register their children.
In his speech, the director of NOA in Adamawa State, Johnah Agye also charged parents to take advantage of the free birth registration, noting that house to house registration of birth which started in August will last till November.
