Nigeria launches digital CRVS platform built by private partner

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria has unveiled a digital Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) platform that is expected to expedite the issuance of birth and death certificates in the country.

Tinubu launched the platform in a ceremony at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday November 8. At the same ceremony, he also commissioned a Geospatial Data Repository, per Channels Television.

Funding for the project was provided by Barnksforte Technologies Limited, a digital services and biometric software company, via a Public-Private Partnership.

While praising the National Population Commission (NPC) for fronting the initiative, Tinubu said the digital CRVS will spare the country the hassle of having to register deaths and births using the analogue paper-based system.

Describing the country’s population as an important asset (Nigeria has an estimated 220 million citizens), the Nigerian leader said the move is in line with his administration’s “renewed hope agenda” which seeks to respond to the problems of Nigerian citizens at all levels.

The president also expressed gratitude to the private partner that funded the project, saying the federal government was open to engagement with more private sector companies to deliver important projects for the Nigerian people.

Barnksforte Technologies products include an automated biometric identification system (ABIS) and touchless biometric authentication software Verxid, as well as a smart electronic document management system.

The NPC Chairman Nasir Isa Kwarra underlined the importance of the new digital CRVS system, saying it will revolutionize the way Nigerians access civil registration services anywhere around the world, notes New Telegraph.

According to Kwarra, the digital platform will not only reduce the physical visits to civil registration centers and the cost involved in processing applications, it will also increase the rate of birth and death registration in the country.

With the new CRVS system, the federal government is sure of more accurate and streamlined statistics necessary to inform policy for national planning and development, said the NPC Chairman.

The NPC has been running a digital CRVS pilot with UNICEF for the past several months, and the agency said early last month that it had reached 57 percent of its target to register 12 million children.

In a related story, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) says it has been able to clear a backlog of 2.5 million modification requests for the national identification number (NIN).

The claim is attributed to the NIMC Director General Abisoye Coker-Odusote who was speaking this week during a field visit in the federal capital territory. She warned against extortion and promised that delays in the issuance of national ID cards will be dealt with promptly by her services, according to The Cable.

Obtaining the NIN is free but payment is required for modification services.

Article Topics

Africa  |  Barnksforte Technologies  |  biometrics  |  birth registration  |  civil registration  |  CRVS  |  digital ID  |  identity document  |  legal identity  |  Nigeria  |  public-private partnerships