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Tag: UNICEF

  • Knowledge as the First Remedy for Sickle Cell Anemia

    There is a common belief in Nigeria that anybody living with sickle cell anemia, also known as SCD, dies before age 40.

    As a result, they are treated differently, excluded from the job market, and are not considered worth marrying.
    SCD is an inherited blood disorder caused by abnormal hemoglobin – the oxygen-carrying proteins in the red blood cells.

    The distorted red blood cells are fragile and die sooner than regular ones, preventing oxygen from flowing properly through the body.

    According to the World Health Organization, each year more than 100,000 children worldwide die from the disease before the age of five.

    In Nigeria, the worst-hit country, roughly 150,000 babies are born with it every year. Ignorance about the disease and a lack of funding are major challenges. But with proper prevention and treatment, it is possible to survive it.

    Alhaja Laguda, age 92, is the oldest woman living with SCD in Nigeria. She said that being sick while growing up was particularly difficult. She was often too sick to attend school for more than three months a year.

    In the quest to find a cure for an illness people attribute to supernatural causes, Laguda was given all sorts of concoctions from local tribes. “I just took everything they gave me,” she recalled. “They would cut me on every part of my body, but I put up with it because I wanted to live.”

    The disorder can cause everything from acute pain to anemia, swelling of extremities, bacterial infections and strokes – most of which can be prevented or treated when diagnosed early.

    Abimbola Edwin, who comes from a well-off family, recognized the disease as soon as her daughter, Timilehin, began manifesting the symptoms at four months of age.

    Timilehin is now 29, and has suffered much less than if her mother had not been educated about the risks.

    Toyin Adesola, Founding Executive Director of the Sickle Cell Advocacy and Management Initiative (SAMI), has lived with sickle cell for 53 years. For her, early detection can make all the difference.

    “Currently we wait up to two years – or when the symptoms appear – to start a treatment,” she said, adding that Nigeria is behind other African countries in terms of early prenatal and newborn screenings, due to lack of proper facilities. “Prenatal screening is very expensive,” she added.

    “People with low incomes cannot afford it. It’s easier to do with newborns, and public hospitals are supposed to do it.”
    Although Adesola’s pain has left her physically challenged, she’s determined to help others. Her foundation aims to prevent SCD’s prevalence through awareness campaigns – helping people know their genotype and get diagnosed, which is not always easy.

    “A lot of people mistake genotype for blood group,” she said, adding than in many cases, people are misdiagnosed. “We tell people to go to at least three places to carry out the test.”

    SAMI helps parents who are often emotionally and financially overwhelmed by the disease. The organization offers free genotype testing when possible, and runs a free clinic in Lagos, where it is based.

    Adesola said, “The whole aim of this is to act as an intermediary between the hospital and the person with sickle cell, because we find that, due to lack of funds, a lot of people don’t do anything about the illness until they deteriorate and complications arise, and then we spend a lot of money or we lose the person.”

    However, she noted, funding remains a serious limitation for the foundation, too.

    Adesola said that other diseases, such as cancer, tuberculosis or malaria, often receive more attention and funding from the government and organizations, who tend to neglect the issue of sickle cell.

    She noted that the latest statistics for the sickness in Nigeria date back to 1993. These indicate that around 4 to 5 million people are declared to be living with the disease, a number that has surely gone up since then. Furthermore, many families keep it a secret.

    Doris Gbemiloye, popularly referred to as Mama Genotype, created the Genotype Foundation. UNICEF, she said, stipulates that every child has the right to know his or her genotype.

    “We try to educate people at a young age because our major focus is prevention. For years we have been going to schools to run genotype tests for them free through sponsorships and donations, and the more we meet them the more they are being armed with information.” Despite the foundation’s limited means, it manages to carry out its work in cities and rural areas.

    “We have a monthly meeting where we give [beneficiaries] drugs and they see a doctor on duty who talks to them about how to live with sickle cell,” said Gbemiloye.

    “We talk to the parents to balance their psyche because there are parents who have it in mind that their children will die anytime.”

    The foundation invites older survivors of the disease to talk with parents, too. They serve as living proof that knowledge and information can tip the balance for those who are born with SCD.

  • UNICEF holds education conference for north leaders

    The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has begun a “Northern Nigeria Traditional Leaders Conference” on out of school children.

    This follows data released by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) that over 13 million children are out of school.

    UBEC noted that 80 per cent of out of school children in Nigeria are in the north, just as UNICEF said the children are not faceless but live in the communities.

    UBEC’s Executive Secretary Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, who was represented by Deputy Executive Secretary, Dr. Yusuf Gambo, said the situation calls for a re-think and active participation of all to checkmate the situation.

    He said: “That today Nigeria has over 10.5 million out-of-school children (with the figure going much higher if IDPs in Boko Haram ravaged Northeast and secondary school figures are included), with available statistics showing that more 80 per cent of this figure is in the North, calls for a re-think and action to checkmate the situation.

    “The north has to wake up from its deep sleep. The world is moving fast with science and technology, and the other parts of Nigeria are struggling to catch-up with the rest of the world through children education, but the north is wobbling and being drawn back by wrong perceptions of what constitutes education and its true value in human and national development.

    “It is in the north that majority of the socio-cultural barriers to formal schooling – early marriage (especially of girls); almajiri syndrome all over the northern streets; child labour; negative parental attitudes towards education; low parental literacy level – have found a seemingly permanent dwelling place.”

    Gambo, however, promised that “with the commitment, guidance and backing of the Federal Government, active collaboration and participation of the International Developmental Partners, Non-Governmental Organisations, the Organised Private Sector and other key players in the education industry, UBEC will pursue any agenda that targets eradicating the out-of-school children challenge to advance the educational development of Nigeria.

    Deputy Representative, UNICEF Nigeria Pernille Ironside said UNICEF recognises the importance of the conference and the key role of traditional institutions in Northern Nigeria to positively influence parents and ensure that children under their councils are literate.

    She said: “UNICEF recognises the leadership of the Sultan of Sokoto in this conference and the partnership with the Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development, FME, UBEC and NMEC as well as development partners in changing the story of children in their communities. By working together, we can give all children in Nigeria the right to read and write.

    “When we invest in our children, we invest in our collective future. On behalf of UNICEF, I would like to once again encourage the establishment of a strong partnership between the traditional leaders, government and civil society to engage at the community level with parents and influence the political decisions to ensure the right to quality education for all children in Nigeria. For Nigeria to achieve its Sustainable Development Goal (SGDs) targets for education, this is essential. Only quantum leaps today will enable Nigeria to achieve its social and economic goals for the future…”

  • Emir of Kano calls for use of local language to teach

    The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, on Wednesday, advised the Federal Government to institute a policy that allows the use of local languages to teach in Nigerian schools.

    Sanusi, who gave the advice at a two-day Northern Nigeria Traditional Leaders Conference on Out-of-School Children, in Kaduna, said that the use of only English language in teaching has contributed to low educational development in the country.

    The conference was organised by Federal Ministry of Education, Universal Basic Education Commission, National Commission for Mass Education and Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development in collaboration with UNICEF.

    According to him, the national policy on education that allows only English language as a means of communication in classrooms is defective and responsible for low assimilation among students.

    “English as a language yes, but English as the only medium of teaching and learning is wrong and counterproductive.

    “You don’t need English language to be a doctor, you don’t need it to be engineer or anything one wants to be.”

    He stressed that teaching with mother tongue would go a long way in improving the rate of assimilation and make teaching and learning interesting and productive.

    Sanusi also pointed out the lack of commitment to improving the quality of education by all levels of governments had manifested over the years in the paltry budgetary allocation made to education by all levels of government.

    He said that only seven per cent of the 2018 federal budget was allocated to education against the recommended 26 per cent.

    “This is a clear indication that education was the least of the Nigeria’s priority. This is quite disturbing.

    “Our political leaders must be held accountable if they fail to meet up with their responsibility of providing education, quality health services and other development aspiration of the people.

    “If a sitting governor cannot ensure that his people are educated, healthy and empowered to live a productive life then he has no business being in governance.”

    Earlier, 16-year-old Tabitha Emmanuel, from Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno, while sharing her experience stressed that access to quality education for all should be of concern to everyone.

    Read Also : Education is antidote to extremism, terrorism – Buhari

    Emmanuel said that Nigerian societies cannot thrive when millions of children have no opportunity to access education that can make them productive members of their communities.

    “I recalled that sometime ago, Boko Haram sent a letter to my community directing that no girl should be sent to school.

    “They later came and burnt my school and destroyed my village, killed many people, took women and abducted more than 200 girls into captivity.

    “I was forced to stay at home for six months. My future became bleak and life became difficult.

    “But as peace returned to the troubled North East, I was able to complete my primary and secondary school and I am looking forward to a brighter future.”

    She pointed out that there are still huge number of girls and children who do not have access to quality education, and appealed to community leaders to recognised that children are important machinery in shaping a country’s future for greatness.

    According to her, there must be collective effort to ensure that schools are safe, gender based and other barriers to girl child education are addressed.

  • Girl Child enrollment: ‘Katsina tops North West states on gender parity index’

    Katsina state Director of Schools, Hajia Halima Lawal Othman on Saturday in Katsina declared that the state ranked tops on Girl Child enrollment in schools and gender parity index among other states in the Northwest geo-political zone of the country

     Hajia Othman told The Nation in an exclusive interview in her office, that gender parity index as obtainable from the schools in the state has risen from 0.77% in 2017 to 0.84% in 2018.She further attributed the growth to increased government support of education plus the various interventionist measures by development partners such as Global partners, UNICEF and other donor agencies

    She said ‘A stipend of N20, 000.00 is given to each parent in the targeted community as motivation to send their daughters to school rather than allowing them to engage in hawking’’

    ‘’The gross enrollment percentage as at 2016 was 86% but in 2017 it has increased to 89%, while the net enrollment rate is presently between 48-51%’’

    ‘With the intervention of Global Partners as early as 2016,there were lots of improvements in the learning environments including the construction of new primary schools, provision of additional infrastructure, posting of more teaching personnel to the schools in the urban and rural areas, and so on’’

    Read Also: Masari, Lado clinches APC, PDP tickets in Katsina

    Hajia Halima also pointed at the school improvement grants of N250, 000 to Primary and N150, 000 to Pre-Primary Schools

    ‘’145 early Child classes i.e. Pre-Primary schools including Quranic  Schools, received grants to improve learning environments.1034 Primary schools received 30k each as grants while 61,766 pre-primary 1,2,and 3 also received grants’’, She said

    Om teacher development she disclosed that about 9,566 teachers were trained in different areas of pedagogy including training on Hausa and English languages

    On the completion rate for enrolled school children she noted that the rate is between 71-82% and that pupil’s classroom ratio, using JS3 pupils as example, presently stood at between 43-52%

    She further disclosed that gender focus is on the girls because they are mostly victims of neglect, the most vulnerable to forced labour including hawking.

    She said ‘’In this part of the country, the girl child is often compelled to early marriage and hawking with little attention on her education. Her parents are least perturbed whether she went to school or not, hence we place our focal attention on Girl Child Education’’

    On the controversy surrounding the out-of –school syndrome, she dismissed the claim that a huge population of the children mostly in the North were out of school; arguing that Quranic schooling represents a form of education which only needed to be registered and regulated like other schools.

    She said “Go to Bangladesh, Quranic schools are registered and regulated by Government as a type of education. All these Children you see on the streets attends one form of school or the other both the conventional type and the Quranic schools. So why do you say they are out of school’

  • Rate of death of newborn in Bauchi, alarming – UNICEF officer

    Mr Oluseyi Olusunde, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Health Officer in Bauchi said on Thursday that the rate of neonatal deaths in the state was alarming and called for urgent action.
    He stated this at a stakeholders meeting for situation analysis on newborn deaths in the state.
    “Out of every 1000 newborn, 161 are likely to die before their fifth birthday in Bauchi; this is far above SDG target.
    “For our newborn presently,we have about 11455 deaths of newborns every year in Bauchi, therefore Bauchi is number five in Nigeria in terms of newborn deaths,” he said.
    According to him, that is why the state government inaugurated a committee called Bauchi State Every Newborn Action Committee (BASENAC) to track implementation of policies that prevents newborn death.

    Read Also: 2.6m Nigerians under age five severely malnourished – UNICEF

    “With the partnership of UNICEF/EU and the state government, we will reduce newborn deaths in the state,” he assured.
    In his remarks, head of UNICEF, zone ‘D’Field Office, Mr Bhanu Pathak, said the state government had been doing its beat to reduce cases of neo-natal deaths, but added that there were some challenges that needed to be resolved.
    He said UNICEF would partner with the government to address the challenges.
    ‎Also speaking, Chairman BASENAC, Dr Robinson Yusuf, said the concept of the meeting was to sensitize the stakeholders on the bottlenecks identified as the cause of newborn deaths in the state.
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    “Investing in newborn and child survival and the most disadvantaged is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do,” he said.
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    Yusuf said the committee would subsequently come up with strategies and plan that would address the issues surrounding newborn deaths in the state.
    ‎Stakeholders that attended the meeting included traditional and religious leaders, health-related associations as well as personnel of ministries involved in efforts at reducing neonatal deaths, among others.

  • UNICEF decries lack of awareness on maternal neonatal disease

    A UNICEF health specialist, Mr Hilary Ozoh, has decried the low level public awareness on the deadly Maternal Neonatal Tetanus disease (MNT) elimination campaign slated for October 18.

    Ozoh, who made the assertion at the opening of one-day media orientation forum for 2018 MNTE campaign, which will hold in Benin, Edo State capital, said MNT is a swift and painful killer disease that kills new born and sometimes the mother.

    According to UNICEF report, no fewer than 34,000 newborns in 2015 were killed by MNT alone, while a significant number of women also died to due to maternal tetanus every year.

    According to Ozoh, MNT represented a very high proportion of the tetanus disease burden due mainly to inadequate immunisation services, limited or absent clean delivery services and improper post-partum cord care.

    He, however, expressed worry that not much had been done in terms of media enlightenment about the October 18, commencement day.

    Speaking on the “Role of the media in the 2018 MNTE’’, Ozoh said the level of the campaign awareness was abysmal where the Southsouth zone had been identified as one of the high risk areas.

    He noted that the campaign would not yield the desired result if the media was not involved.

    Earlier, Director, National Primary Health Care Development  Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Eugene Orvihi-Ivase,  in his welcome address, identified the media as a veritable vehicle for the effective implementation of all health programmes.

    Orvihi-Ivase, who heads NPHCDA’s advocacy and communication department, said the aim of the forum was to sensitise the media on the 2018 MNTE campaign, identified the roles and responsibilities of the media among others.

    He expressed the hope that the forum would provide participants the platform for better understanding of the MNT health menace particularly in the Southsouth zone.

    Dr. Kizito Obi of the NPHCDA, in his presentation on the overview of 2018 MNTE campaign, said majority of mothers and newborns dying of tetanus live in Africa and Southern and East Asia.

    Obi identified the major causes of the disease as poverty, little access to health care, and lack of information about safe delivery practices.

    He said Nigeria was among the 16 countries yet to eliminate MNT, adding that the states in the Southsouth had been identified to be high risk zone.

    The health expert noted that vigorous campaigns and follow ups on MNT needed to be sustained ahead of the 2020 total elimination date by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

    According to him, once the disease is contracted, the fatality rate can be as high as 100 per cent without hospital care and between 10 per cent and 60 per cent with hospital care.

    “The true extent of the tetanus death toll is not known as many newborns and mothers die at home and neither the birth nor the death is reported,’’ he said.

    Obi, however, said MNT was easily preventable through immunization of women with TT vaccine for protection against Tetanus.

    “A child born to a woman protected against tetanus is also protected from the disease in the first few months of its life.

    “Practice of hygienic birth practices to ensure infection is not contracted by mother or newborn during the birth process.

    “Also, proper cord care to ensure that contamination of cord does not put the newborn at risk,’’ he said.

    About 40 participants, drawn from the media, UNICEF and NPHCDA attended the one-day programme.

  • Birth registration first step to legal identity – NPoPc

    The National Population Commission (NPoPc) says birth registration is the first step in securing legal identity.

    The Director, Public Affairs Department of the commission, Mr Mohammed Isah, said this in an interview with newsmen on Friday in Abuja.

    Isah urged Nigerians to register and obtain a birth certificate, saying that there is no better identity than birth registration.

    He stated that the only valid instrument attached to a child after names were given was birth registration and certificate.

    Isah underscored the need for awareness as lot of Nigerians did not understand the benefits of birth and death registration, hence the campaign.

    Read Also: Birth registration: Beyond rhetorics

    According to him, NPopC has been in partnership for over a decade with UNICEF and also collaborating with other sectors such as the Primary Health Care Development Agency and Ministry of Education to scale up the registration process.

    He said that “We (NPopC) have less than 4,000 centers to help launch the campaign on birth registration and educate the public on the importance of it.

    “The activities of the commission are limited due to lack of personnel and fund.’’

    The director explained that birth registration helped in securing and accessing basic rights such as education, health and social protection.

    He also noted that birth certificate provided the documentary evidence required for relevant occasions like school enrollment, graduation, voting as well as rights to be voted for, inheritance, obtaining an international passport and drivers licence.

    Isah further emphasized that birth and death certificates also provide legal evidence to claim a property, insurance benefits of deceased persons as well as rights of serving spouses to remarry.

    According to him, data gathered through civil registration and vital statistics will help create accurate assessments of economic growth and poverty levels of a society as well as means of measuring global targets.

    The director said that Civic Registration and Vital statistics (CRVS) was therefore a high priority for supporting human rights, policy planning and good governance.

  • Malaria: Deadly but preventable

    It’s a fact that drainage systems that are habitat for mosquitoes to thrive have been attributed as one of the reasons malaria is not abating. Michael Adroit explores various causes of malaria among adults and children, symptoms and prevention.

    Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease that is endemic in many regions of the world. It is a very common and rampant infection which kills a large number of people every year in Nigeria and globally, most especially children. According to UNICEF reports, ninety-one countries currently experience ongoing malaria transmission. Among all communicable diseases, malaria is the third largest killer of children between the ages of one month and five years, following pneumonia and diarrhoea.

    Malaria is an infection common basically in local areas due to dirty environment.

    In an interview, Dr Favour Odutu Adodo said: “Pregnancy test, malaria test and typhoid test are the tests people run a lot. There are different types of malaria parasites but one of them is most common in Africa and in Nigeria and that is Plasmodium falciparum. Malaria is being prevented by the use of insecticides or mosquito nets. Mosquito bites are the cause of malaria infection. A number of 15-30 people get diagnosed of malaria monthly here at my lab.”

    Dr Owoeye Johnson of Detoy Health Care Centre, Isheri-Oshun, said, “Malaria is the commonest, popular and prevalent disease not just in Nigeria, but in Africa and this malaria parasite is caused by female anopheles mosquitoes. The major cause of this rampant infection is poor drainage systems and that is why malaria is very common in Lagos State.”

    He further stated that “the way to prevent malaria infections is to get rid of mosquitoes around you by sanitising your environment, having proper refuse disposal because when the environment is clean, there will be no place for these mosquitoes to breathe. Another is sleeping under insecticide treated nets. A mosquito net can last for four years. Ensure you have good personal hygiene – eating a balanced diet, so as to keep your immune system strong to fight the infection.”

    Malaria is deadly to babies because they have weak immune system, that could be defenceless to the illness. “The prevention of malaria for babies are sleeping under the insecticide treated nets, exclusive breastfeeding for six months because breast milk contains all the necessary nutrients a baby needs to survive, even if the baby has malaria, it would not be intense,” he advised

    There are also certain symptoms of malaria because a parent has to pinpoint signs that could tell his or her child has malaria ailment because babies are unable to speak. “The symptoms of malaria on a baby are jaundice (yellowish of the eyes), loss of appetite, runny nose, and body pains. The best way to diagnose malaria is microscopic test where the blood of the patient will be placed beneath a microscope and the parasite is seen,” he added

    Sleeping under an insecticide-treated bed net (ITN) is the most common and most effective way to prevent malaria infection. Using mosquito repellent creams is also useful. There are also home remedies that are effective to cure malaria- ginger, lime juice, orange juice. Preventing malaria is a big step to healthy living.

  • Putting the girl-child back on track

    It was a rainy Saturday and it was a day the old girls of Methodist Girls, the oldest girls’ school in Lagos, organised a 5-kilometre health walk for better girl-child education and rebuilding of the old school premises.

    The rain kept pouring and the old girls defied the heavy downpour as they marched out of the school premises clad in red tee shirts and jeans. They marched through the streets, singing school songs, reminiscing about the good old days, and determined to help redirect the path of the girl-child towards a better future.

    For Mrs Yomi Afolabi, president of the Old Girls Association, there is an urgent need to focus on the girl-child and provide the facilities and tools that would make her excel in her studies. “Methodist Girls High school is a school that has a good legacy. It is the oldest girls’ school in Nigeria and that alone speaks volume. It is a mission school and it is a school that is known for excellence, high moral standards and discipline. I am so proud to be a product of that school.”

    She added: “At this time in history, we have decided to give back to our Alma mater, as a way of ensuring better girl-child education and improved school facilities. Data shows that globally over 70m children do not have access to good education and over 50 per cent of that number are girls. UNICEF records show that 60 per cent of all children in Nigeria are girls and there is a Voice of Nigeria report that states that 27 per cent of Nigerian girls are out of school in Nigeria.”

    Even before this latest move, the association has done some things to make life better for the girls. “The walk is like a landmark for us to showcase to the world that we are now ready. We have a lot of things that we want to do, we have a focus group and dinner. We are going to be meeting with a number of corporate bodies and we would be telling them our stories and soliciting their support. Sets are raising funds in different ways and talking with family members and friends. We are going to have a drama production and there are different things lined up for raising funds like selling our souvenirs.”

    Bunmi Morenikeji, the chairperson of the fundraising committee, tells it how it all started.

    “About two years ago, we realised that the old block of the school has structural deficiencies. We had thought that we could renovate but engineers reviewed it and saw that it was beyond repairs. It is called the old block; the centenary block about a hundred and four years. So, you can imagine how long it has been there. Right now, the students have been moved out for safety reasons.”

    The target, according to Morenikeji, is to raise a minimum of three hundred and fifty million naira for this. “We have different things that have been planned out, first from ourselves. We must be committed to this and so all sets have been asked to bring in a particular amount. The target is to raise a hundred thousand, about a third of it from us, as old girls. Then this walk today is part of the awareness but beyond that we are also looking at Corporate Nigeria to support us.”

    For Funmi Owoade, nee Aboyade Cole, the social secretary of the association and president of the 1966 set, this was their own way of giving back to the school. “As an old student, I can be anywhere and raise my head. It is a very good school, a missionary one for that matter. It stands amongst equals. My advice to the younger generation is to be part of a good thing.” Olajumoke Gbadamosi, nee Shadare, went down memory lane to relive her memories of school days this way: “I remember that we started in form one at Broad Street, Lagos. The following year in 1951, we were brought to the present school as one of the first set. It was very interesting because I lived on the Mainland and had to walk to school. It was quite exciting coming to school and talking with your friends.”

    Asked what it means to be a product of the school and she replied: “I have gained a lot from the school because what gave me the first impression was when I went for my Higher School Certificate. I was made the head girl and we got beautiful training there. Then we had the white women with us and we had to behave well, dress well. If you come to school on a rainy day and you were dry, you got a good mark. I don’t know whether that means anything to you these days.”

    Ask her to compare the current educational system with her days and she replies that “It is almost incomparable. In our time, when you say that you are from Methodist Girls High School, they respect you because of the standard.”

    Next, she discloses the significance of the walk by the old Girls Association and her expectations for the girl-child. “I woke up very early to come and join them. I really feel bad that I missed the walk because I can’t walk far now; I am 81 years old. I would love to see us build up a new building to replace this one. In fact, my set has already donated a million naira and I pray that I would be alive when the new building is ready.”

    The school which was founded in 1878 has carved a niche for itself over the years, by contributing in no small measure to the development of the girl-child as an individual and the nation as a whole.

    MGHS has produced many eminent Nigerians who have helped the socio economic development of the nation. “It is in line with the vision of the school to maintain the highest standard laid by the founding missionary leaders in the field of education and a hallmark for moulding the spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical and social life of every student that the building project and walk is being organised by the old students of the school.”

    The event ended with a health talk by Dr Ronke Dawodu.

    The chairman of the 2018 reunion committee, Mrs Funto Igun, also took members through the activities lined up for the reunion in October.

  • Over 35m Nigerian children, faceless -UNICEF

    The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has revealed about 35,031,047 under five- year- old children are faceless and non-existent in the country.

    The Fund attributed the development to the fact that their births were not registered by the Federal Government.

    UNICEF said it gathered the figure from the Rapid SMS information tracking tool, a data collection website that collects information of birth registration through SMS or Text Messages, from mobile users.

    This tracking tool allows real time tracking of local and regional birth registration activities in 774 Local Government Areas of the nation.

    Speaking at a two- day media campaign for birth registration in Lagos, UNICEF Child Protection Specialist Sharon Oladiji stated RapidSMS allows data to be collected in real time to enable LGA, State, Federal and partners to collect, analyse and react to data more quickly.

    According to RapidSMS dashboard, only 8 percent of under five-year-old children are registered in Nigeria.

    It showed just 3,046,178 under 5 children have been registered, leaving out about 92 percent of unregistered births amounting to over 35,031,047.

    Oladiji stated: “For a child without birth certificate, the record is not with the National Population Commission register and it will be difficult to plan for such.

    “So when we depend on age affidavit, when there is a commission set up by the constitution to register children, we are doing a lot of disservice to that generation of children.”

    UNICEF Communication specialist Geoffrey Njoku said since data shows Nigeria births seven million children every year, the country must ensure it registers seven million children and not less.

    He said: “It is a right, according to the convention and rights of a child, a child must have a legal identity that makes him or her a Nigerian.

    “You have to have an identity so that in the system you will not be an unknown quantity, a faceless human being?

    “That is why we work on the rights of a child and the right to an identity is one of the rights.”