Civil Registration and Vital Statistics as Sources of Socio-Demographic Data for Good Governance in Nigeria

Abstract

Timely and accurate demographic data, resulting from robust Civil Registration and Vital Statistics [CRVS] systems play critical roles in facilitating the realisation of key developmental goals in most countries. A well-functioning CRVS system can afford Nigeria the ambit to gather timely data for evidence-based policy-making. However, just as in many other developing countries, Nigeria’s CRVS framework is plagued by weak institutional linkages resulting to poor quality sociodemographic data. Therefore, this paper focused on the importance of a robust CRVS system as source of quality sociodemographic data in Nigeria, with the objective of situating it within the broader context of good governance. The paper is primarily theoretical and employed the activity theory to examine access to and use of population-based data from the CRVS system for good governance. This paper concludes that the inability to generate actionable and quality population-based data due to Nigeria’s weak CRVS system, as well as non-data driven socioeconomic policies hinders good governance. Therefore, more investments are needed to scale-up Nigeria’s CRVS system and the resulting sociodemographic data should be a priority in driving national policy-making for good governance.