Millions of Nigerian Children Risk Losing Access to Basic Services

UNICEF has warned that millions of Nigerian children without birth registration risk exclusion from essential public services and social protection programmes.

The organisation said birth registration provides the legal identity children need to access and exercise their basic rights throughout life. UNICEF Lagos Field Office Chief, Celine Lafoucriere, raised the concern at a two-day media dialogue organised by the National Population Commission in partnership with UNICEF.

She described birth registration as a fundamental right, warning that children without proof of legal identity could face difficulties accessing education, healthcare and social protection. The challenges could continue into adulthood, affecting rights linked to voting, inheritance and other civic entitlements.

“Birth registration, civil registration is the child’s identity and it is the foundational right of every child’s rights. Without that right, nothing else can happen. If your child doesn’t have an identity, he does not exist. He or she does not exist on the social register,” she said.

Lafoucriere also stressed that birth registration supports effective government planning and budgeting. Unregistered children may remain absent from official databases and social protection systems, making it harder for authorities to estimate their numbers and plan services.

She urged journalists to take the registration campaign into communities, particularly those with vulnerable and hard-to-reach families.

NPC Lagos State Director, Abiola Kekere-Ekun, also called for stronger media support to improve awareness and encourage parents and caregivers to register their children.

UNICEF Child Protection Specialist Dennis Onoise identified weak legal frameworks, limited registration facilities, poor data systems and low awareness as key challenges. He called for legal reforms, digitisation, decentralisation and stronger links between the NPC and primary healthcare centres.

Do you think stronger community awareness can significantly improve birth registration in Nigeria?