By Ibukun Emiola, News Agency of Nigeria(NAN)
Following his adoption in 2025, Adisa (not his real name) found himself with a new family determined to help him heal from the fatal crash that claimed his parents—only to realise that providing a safe haven was just the first of many hurdles.
With no surviving relatives and no official record of his birth, his exact age could not be established.
From the development of the child’s teeth, a dentist estimated his age, and based on that assessment, his adoptive parents celebrated what they believed to be his fourth birthday in May, 2026.
However, whenever they attempted to enrol him in school or access healthcare, they were repeatedly asked for his birth certificate and immunisation records–documents that simply did not exist.
His adoptive mother, Mrs Folakemi Ajagbe (not her real name), recalled the embarrassment of constantly being unable to answer basic questions about her son’s identity.
“People would always ask, ‘How old is your son?’ At a point, I stopped taking him to places where his birth certificate or age would be required,” she said.
Adisa’s experience illustrates a largely hidden challenge confronting many abandoned, orphaned and rescued children in Nigeria.
Although they eventually find safety in orphanages, welfare homes or adoptive families, many remain without legal identity, limiting access to education, healthcare and other essential services.
The challenge is especially significant in Nigeria, where UNICEF estimates that about 28 million children under five have no birth certificates, including around 20 million whose births have never been registered.
National surveys also show that nearly six out of every 10 births occur outside formal health facilities, making immediate birth registration less likely.
For abandoned children, the problem is even more complicated because many are rescued without any information about their parents, dates of birth or places of birth.
Mrs Happiness Ani, a social worker at the University Teaching Hospital, said many children admitted into institutional care arrived without the documents needed for birth registration or National Identification Number (NIN) enrolment.
She explained that the situation was worsened by administrative bottlenecks, financial constraints and the legal processes often required before identity documents can be issued for children under institutional care.
According to her, children born in recognised healthcare facilities generally do not face such difficulties because their births are documented from the outset.
Mrs Adelayo Ojo-Nkom, Founder of Wellspring Outreach and Support Foundation, a Non-governmental organisation, said the consequences become more severe as the children grow older.
She noted that many required birth certificates and NINs to register for external examinations, gain admission into tertiary institutions, open bank accounts and access other public services.
According to her, some young people eventually abandon their educational ambitions “because they cannot obtain the required identity documents.”
She called for birth registration officials to be deployed to traditional birth centres and for birth certificates to become compulsory during primary school enrolment to ensure that every child entered the education system with a recognised legal identity.
An official of the Oyo State Ministry of Women Affairs, Poverty Alleviation and Social Inclusion, who spoke anonymously, insisted that procedures existed to prevent abandoned children from being excluded.
According to the ministry, rescued children are first admitted into government homes while efforts are made to trace their biological families through public announcements.
Where no relatives are found, medical professionals assess the children’s ages, after which the National Population Commission (NPC) issues birth certificates and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) enrols them for NIN.
However, findings by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) suggest that implementation remains inconsistent.
Cases such as Adisa’s indicate that some adopted children still spend years without official identity documents in spite of existing government procedures.
Child rights advocates say delays often force caregivers to rely on affidavits or other informal arrangements whenever identity documents become necessary.
Mrs Idris Joy, Founder of Oyiza Orphanage and Foster Foundation, said registered orphanages generally obtained identity documents through collaboration with local governments and relevant ministries.
She, however, observed that children born outside hospitals or rescued without any background information often presented greater documentation challenges.
Similarly, Dr Rosemary Ojigbo, who operates a private children’s home, said many abandoned children arrived with no information whatsoever about their biological parents.
According to her, such children are often given temporary identities while government agencies complete medical assessments and other administrative procedures before adoption or long-term placement.
In addition, the National Identity Management Commission said it had introduced special measures to ensure vulnerable children were not excluded from Nigeria’s digital identity system.
An official of the commission in Oyo State told NAN that NIMC had been conducting onsite enrolment for orphanages and foster homes since 2015.
According to the official who pleaded anonymity, institutions housing vulnerable children only need to notify the commission whenever enrolment is required.
“If they are many, we arrange for our staff to visit them with mobile enrolment devices,” the official said.
The commission, however, acknowledged that it cannot determine how many children from orphanages and foster homes have been enrolled because all Nigerians are captured in a single national database without separate classification.
It also maintained that government-issued birth certificates remain mandatory before children can obtain NINs.
The National Population Commission equally says it has intensified efforts to reach vulnerable children.
The Oyo State Director of NPC, Mrs Olubisi Adegbite, said the commission registered children living under bridges and on the streets during the 2023 Enumeration Area Demarcation exercise in collaboration with security agencies and the state government.
She added that officials also conduct regular registration exercises in government-owned orphanages and private children’s homes whenever caregivers notify the commission about newly admitted children.
“We went to the Ibadan Motherless Babies Home, other foster homes both private and public and registered the children there.
“We also reached vulnerable children around Mokola and other locations,” she said.
However, the frequency of getting these vulnerable sections of the society included in digital identity seems low.
Even with these interventions, experts argue that institutional coordination remains weak.
Mrs Toju Ikime, a legal practitioner and member of the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Oyo State chapter, said many foster parents still resorted to alternative means of obtaining birth certificates or NINs for abandoned children because formal processes were often slow or difficult.
Counselling psychologist and child rights advocate, Ms Joy Oladejo, described the problem as one of policy implementation rather than absence of laws.
She noted that although the Oyo State Child Rights Law guarantees every child’s right to a name, nationality and birth registration, “there is currently no mandatory system requiring every child admitted into institutional care to receive immediate birth registration and digital identity.”
According to her, welfare homes already struggle to provide food, shelter and healthcare, leaving identity registration to be postponed until children need to register for examinations such as WASSCE or UTME.
Oladejo advocated stronger collaboration among the Ministry of Women Affairs, NPC and NIMC, periodic identity audits of childcare institutions, expanded mobile registration services and an “exit identity package” ensuring that no child leaves institutional care without both a birth certificate and a National Identification Number.
Digital rights expert, Mr John Gbadamosi, also believes identity exclusion remains one of the least discussed barriers facing children in institutional care.
He warned that the absence of legal identity affects far more than school admission.
Without recognised identity documents, many young adults later encounter difficulties opening bank accounts, obtaining formal employment, accessing government programmes, voting and proving citizenship.
He argued that birth registration should become an automatic component of every child’s admission into institutional care, supported by stronger coordination among child welfare, civil registration and identity management agencies.
As Nigeria expands its Digital Public Infrastructure and digital identity ecosystem, experts say ensuring that abandoned and vulnerable children are captured from the earliest possible stage will be critical.
For vulnerable children, a legal identity provides far more than mere documentation; it is the cornerstone for accessing education, healthcare, and social support.
Childcare experts say unless we ensure that all children—regardless of their circumstances—can secure this identity, thousands will remain invisible within the very systems designed to protect them. (NANfeatures)
Edited by Chijioke Okoronkwo
This report is produced under the DPI Africa Journalism Fellowship Programme of the Media Foundation for West Africa and Co-Develop.