VITAL REGISTRATION AS AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA FOR PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

The importance of vital registration system for national and local planning has not received adequate attention in Nigeria. In particular, the registration of births and deaths in Nigeria, as with most developing countries continues to remain suboptimal with many births and deaths going unregistered. This has negative consequences for socio-economic planning and development. Birth registration data are needed to formulate programmes relating to maternal and child health including nutrition, immunization and wellbeing; and data from death registration provide information on the economic burden of diseases, and an understanding of disease etiology among others. This paper examines the state of birth and death registration in Nigeria with the aim of calling on stakeholders to its importance as a source of demographic data for socio-economic planning and development. Using secondary sources of data, the study reviewed and analysed various studies and official reports on the state of vital registration in Nigeria with particular interest on birth and death registration in the country. Findings reveal that as relevant as vital registration system is to socio-economic planning and development, the system is not yet fully developed in terms of its overall coverage and is also yet to be adequately appreciated in terms of its value to socio-economic planning by decision-makers in Nigeria. It is therefore recommended that a properly functioning system of vital registration must be put in place in other to generate necessary data for meaningful socioeconomic planning and development in the country.