Katsina plans to bar children without birth certificates from accessing schools, healthcare, and other essential services.

The Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umaru Radda, has announced his administration’s plans to ban children without birth certificates from accessing healthcare and education in the state.

He said the state government will soon make birth certificates a mandatory requirement for accessing the essential government services.

Radda, who announced this during the formal launch of an e-birth registration exercise at the Continental Event Centre in Katsina on Friday, said the ban will soon be enforced in the state.

He said birth registration certificates will serve as one of the basic requirements for children and adults seeking healthcare, school admissions and employment in the state.

“Very soon, we are going to make the birth registration certificate a necessary requirement for children seeking school admission, healthcare and even employment,” Radda said while addressing the gathering in Hausa language.

He said the decision will enable parents and guardians in the state to avail their children for birth registration for accurate data of the state’s population.

He explained that birth registration is the first legal recognition of a child’s identity and the foundation for accessing education, healthcare, social protection, and civic participation.

Radda lamented that millions of Nigerian children have grown up without the fundamental recognition. “This is not just a systemic failure but a moral deficit we must correct,” the governor.

He reiterated that under his administration, birth registration has become a viable platform and key pillar of child protection and inclusive governance.

The governor directed that the ward and village across the 34 local government areas of the Katsina State will serve as permanent birth registration centres. (Arise News)