By Ismail Auwal
At least, 2,757,833 births were recorded in Katsina between 2017 and 2021 according to the National Population Commission (NPC).
According to Isiaka Yahaya, the Katsina NPC’s Acting Director of Public Affairs, data from RapidSMS, a tracking tool that collects and collates real-time information on birth registration in Nigeria, Katsina recorded 542,368 births in 2017, 489,488 in 2018, 474,068 in 2019, 499,843 in 2020, and 752,066 in 2021.
He highlighted that the results were higher than the National Bureau of Statistics report (NBS).
“The birth registration figures credited to Katsina State by the NBS constitute a gross underestimation of the substantial progress made in registration of births in Katsina State which currently maintains 201 registration centres across the 34 local government areas of the state, where births and deaths are registered on daily basis and free of charge,” he said.
Engineer Bala Banye, the federal commissioner representing Katsina State, stated that the increased birth registration was facilitated by the Katsina State government’s remarkable support in partnership with development partners and traditional institutions.
“Under the Enumeration Area Demarcation for the 2022 Population and Housing Census, the state government supported the commission in the training and recruitment of ad hoc registrars to mop up registration of under-five children in selected local government areas.
“In order to boost birth registration in Katsina State, efforts are being made to register and issue birth certificates to vulnerable children in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps across the state,” he added.
