Ene Oshaba
The National Population Commission (NPC) said it is set to launch a 10-year electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System (e-CRVS) and geospatial data repository, this is in government’s effort to transit from traditional paper-based recording of vital events to a state-of-the-art digital solution that conforms to international best practices.
Chairman of the Commission, Hon. Nasir Isa Kwarra, made this known on Monday in Abuja at the pre-event press briefing on the Presidential launch of the e-CRVS, saying the electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System will revolutionize how vital events are recorded, tracked, and analysed in the country.
According to Kwarra, the e-CRVS aims to accelerate an improved civil registration and vital statistics systems in Nigeria over a period of ten years, (2023-2030) in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG):16.9.2 – legal identity for all, including birth registration.
He assured that the Digital Civil Registration and Vital Registration System will overhaul the process of registration of births and deaths and launch Nigeria towards the attainment of the SDG Goal 16.9.2 – legal identity for all, including birth registration and laying a solid foundation for an efficient Civil registration and Vital Statistic system.
“The launch of the e-CRVS by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR marks the commitment of the current government and leadership to strengthen civil registration data capturing, collation, processing, dissemination and timely access to statistics on vital events in the country,” he said.
The Chairman recalled that the Sixth Session of Conference of African Ministers responsible for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CVRS) held at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa from 24th to 27th October 2022, tasked African Ministers to automate the CRVS process and ensure the implementation of the United Nations Legal Identity Agenda.
According to Kwarra, Member States were encouraged to develop an electronic technology driven system to boost data generation and civil statistics.
In compliance with the resolutions of the African Ministers and scaling up the automated process in Nigeria, the National Population Commission in collaboration with UNICEF developed the eCRVS Operational Readiness Assessment Report showing the potential of digital technologies in providing transformative outcomes in CRVS and integrating data from multiple systems to securely store data at scale, in a cost-effective way in Nigeria.
He said the report provided the holistic approach to the future state vision for digitized CRVS, the roll out of a decentralized digital birth registration system as part of CRVS, and identified areas to strengthen the automation of the system. Recommendations that will significantly increase the likelihood to reach a universal digitalized birth registration system in Nigeria were made.
“This process marks a complete departure from traditional paper-based recording of vital events to a state-of-the-art digital solution that conforms to international best practices. This electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System promise to revolutionize how vital events are recorded, tracked, and analysed in the country,” he assured.
“Our confidence is reinforced in the fact that, over the years, the Commission has invested considerable time and resources planning for an improved digitization process in Census mapping, capturing vital statics data to give the nation a truly electronic Civil Registration & Vital Statistics data for socio-economic planning and providing the Nation with a near real time georeferenced Census data update,” he added.
The Chairman noted that NPC, in the course of preparation for the first digital Census in Nigeria, the Census mapping using a ‘cutting edge’ technological methodology, ie Geographic Information System (GIS) captured geospatial data covering a multidimensional theme with total coverage of the Country. Inaccessible and conflict infested areas were captured using a scientific data derivable methodology.
He therefore appealed to every stakeholder to join hands with the Commission in realizing the dream of providing the needed Vital Registration data that will facilitate and place Nigeria on the pedestal of sustainable development.