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No Birth Certificate, No Primary School Enrollment,Akeredolu Tells Parents.
   
Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State on Tuesday said that the National Population Commission birth certificate has become a yardstick for the enrollment of any child into primary schools across the state.

The Governor stated this in Akure, the Ondo state capital at a stakeholders meeting on birth registration.

The event was organized by Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu Foundation (BAAF) in collaboration with National Population Commission and Ondo State Primary Health Care Development Board.

Akeredolu added that parents would be compiled to register their child between age zero and five at any point of treatment in health centres in the state.

He noted  that any child without a National Population Commission birth certificate would no longer be admitted into primary school in the state.

Akeredolu who argued that it would be difficult to plan for the unregistered children hence the need for parents to have their children registered for accelerated development.

His words: “If we do not have child birth registration, we cannot plan properly. Every child must have genuine birth certificate now before entering primary schools in Ondo state.

” I have also gave directive to our primary health care that you must make it as part of records of every child you will be treating. When parents came with their child, you asked them for the certificate,if they don’t have you issued them one at that moment before treatment.

”  It is the right of every child and it is the only way to cater for them. We must make it compulsory because that is the language Nigerians understand.
” Everybody will sit up if it is mandatory before you enroll your child in school and before treatment.”

Akeredolu who described the programme as a great initiative from BAAF, however appealed to communities and religious leaders as well as other partners to improve on advocacy and awareness of birth registration in their domains.

Speaking, the wife of the governor, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, expressed his displeasure that almost half of children under five years in the state were not properly registered.

She added that these children  not considered for economic planning and are therefore at risk of lacking access to basic social amenities that could ensure adequate child development.

Mrs Akeredolu said that Ondo state has one of the worst birth registration coverage in Southwest as only 68% of children were registered in the state.

She however said, “No more will our children be without an identity, no more will our children lack access to social infrastructure. They are our children and they must be planned for.

“To improve birth registration, I believe the participation of women in the birth registration framework is quintessential. The reason is simple, women are the first care givers and they determine to a large extent what their children get.

“I knew there was a need to make women in the communities lead birth registration programming. “