Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umaru Radda, has announced plans to make birth certificates a mandatory requirement for children and adults seeking access to essential government services, including healthcare, education, and employment.
The governor disclosed this on Friday during the official launch of the e-birth registration initiative at the Continental Event Centre in Katsina, noting that the new rule would soon take effect across the state.
Radda said the measure aimed to encourage parents and guardians to register their children’s births and ensure that the state has accurate and verifiable population data.
“Very soon, we are going to make the birth registration certificate a necessary requirement for children seeking school admission, healthcare and even employment,” he stated in Hausa during his address.
He described birth registration as the first legal recognition of a child’s identity, stressing that it forms the foundation for accessing education, healthcare, social protection, and civic rights.
Lamenting that millions of Nigerian children have grown up without official recognition, Radda described the situation as “not just a systemic failure but a moral deficit we must correct.”
The governor reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to making birth registration a central pillar of child protection and inclusive governance in the state.
To ensure accessibility, Radda directed that all wards and villages across Katsina’s 34 local government areas be designated as permanent birth registration centres, allowing residents to register births without difficulty.
The e-birth registration programme, he added, represents a significant step toward improving data-driven planning and ensuring that every child in Katsina State is properly documented and protected.
