Nigerians can now register for divorce

The National Population Commission (NPC)
on Thursday, November 19 said it will begin
the registration of marriages and divorce
across Nigeria.

The director of public affairs of the
commission Simon Otene in Abuja said these
registrations were approved by the board of
the commission at its 150th Ordinary Meeting
in October.
He said the commission has also approved a
proposed statutory marriage and divorce
registration forms as instruments for the
registrations.
The registration of both events will facilitate
the transition of the vital registration
programme of the NPC to civil registration
and vital statistics which is consistent with
the United Nations Economic Commission for
Africa (UNECA) protocol that requires that a
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS)
must register not less than four vital events,
he said.

“Registration of marriages and divorce yields
benefits for the nation and the individuals. At
the national level, it provides data on
prevalence, trend and rates of marriages and
divorces and this will be useful in planning the
health particularly reproductive health, education
and social security sectors,” Otene said.
Otene added that the divorce certificates are
key to alimony, child support, distribution of
property and division of debt while it also
allows the parties involved to marry others
after the divorce.
But at the individual level, Otene said that the
marriage registration and certificate is mostly
important for women and children for proof
of marital status which provides legal
protection; provides a child with a status of
legitimacy and the right to inherit property
from his or her parents.
“Birth certificates, coupled with laws that set
the minimum age for marriage, help to prevent
child marriages and their devastating
consequences.
“The inclusion of registration of marriages and
divorces has expanded the scope of the vital
registration programme, which the Commission
has implemented since 1989. Births and deaths
are being registered throughout the country and
certificates issued free of charge,” he said.
Otene also said that other steps like the
development and use of Rapid-SMS dash
board for monitoring birth registration on real
time basis and collaboration with the
National Primary Health Care Development
Agency (NPHCDA) using the National
Immunization Programme (NPI) as a vehicle
for registration of births have been taken by
the commission to boost the registration of
births and deaths in Nigeria.
Also, the national commissioner of the NPC
representing the Federal Capital Territory
Daniel Kwali said has assured Nigerians that
the 2016/2017 census will be beyond
reproach.
Kwali said that fool-proof measures were
being incorporated into the exercise to ensure
its credibility.
“Considering the fact that 2016/2017 census will
be biometric based and will seek to capture the
facial impression and finger prints of persons
during the census period, any hope of gaining
advantage through manipulation of EAD will at
best be an illusion that cannot be realized as
only persons physically seen will be counted
and their biometrics taken,” Kwali said.
He also appealed to traditional institution and
communities to support the commission in
carrying out the 2016/2017 census
Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) by
allowing unrestrained access to facilities and
places to be demarcated.
The Etsu of Kwali Shaban Nizazo, III also
pledged on behalf of traditional institution in
the Federal Capital Territory to fully support
the federal government and NPC to ensure a
credible census devoid of rancor.
He said national population and housing
census is both a godly and religious project
and so, everybody living within the FCT
would be fully mobilized to maximally
support the exercise and ensure its success.
“Whether Muslims or Christians, we are all duty
bound to undergo census because religions and
God support it; it is our duty to mobilize our
people to undergo census, I want to assure you
that we are going to work hard to mobilize our
traditional chiefs to organize our people for the
census,” Nizazo said.