Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde has declared Thursday a work-free day in commemoration of Isese Day, a celebration of the African traditional religion.

This is contained in a memo by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof.

In the memo, the governor extended his felicitations to adherents of African Traditional Religion across Oyo State, Nigeria, and beyond, wishing them a successful and spiritually enriching celebration.

Makinde reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to fairness to all religions, expressing gratitude to traditional worshippers for their support to his government over the past seven years.

The governor said that the work-free day would enable workers and residents to fully participate in the celebration of the state’s cultural heritage and pray for the peace, unity, and stability of the state and the country in general.

Recall that Makinde introduced the Isese day celebration as part of his administration’s efforts to honour adherents of traditional religion.

Isese day was also introduced to harness cultural tourism as a driver of economic growth, emphasizing that cultural tourism remains one of the state’s greatest strengths.

Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said it has commenced the tracking of more than N1 billion worth of Federal Government-funded projects in Osun.

The ICPC tracking team lead, Mary Oke, disclosed this on Wednesday in Osogbo.

Oke said the exercise was aimed at ensuring that government-funded projects provided value for money and were executed according to specifications.

She said the tracking exercise would cover the three senatorial districts of the state — Osun Central, Osun East and Osun West.

According to her, the projects being tracked include road construction, solar-powered street lights, skill acquisition and empowerment programmes.

She added that the commission would also track grants provided to vulnerable people, widows, persons with disabilities and the elderly, as well as the construction of community halls and renovation of community libraries, among others.

Oke said the exercise was part of the commission’s mandate to promote accountability and transparency in the implementation of public projects.

“The ICPC is in another phase of its constituency project tracking exercise in the state.

“The exercise, which includes assessing the status of various constituency projects, is also to ensure that public resources are judiciously utilised to deliver quality infrastructure and services to citizens.

“Relevant stakeholders, including community members and civil society organisations, should support the tracking exercise by providing the commission with relevant information that can aid in achieving its objectives,” she said.

Oke urged communities to protect completed projects from vandalism, saying the government had done its part and it was the responsibility of citizens to remain vigilant and protect public facilities.

She added that the tracking exercise was also aimed at ensuring value for money, accountability and transparency in the implementation of public projects.

The National Population Commission (NPC) has established 4,011 functional registration centres across the country as part of efforts to bring digital birth and death registration closer to Nigerians.

The NPC Federal Commissioner in Katsina State, Prof.

The commissioner said that the exercise commenced under the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system.

Radda said that the centres were located across the 774 LGAs in the country, adding that the commission planned to increase the number to 8,000.

He said that the expansion was aimed at decentralising registration services, and bringing them closer to communities and improving the prompt and accurate documentation of vital events.

According to him, the nationwide digital registration exercise became operational on July 1, through the VitalReg platform, across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

He described the initiative as a major milestone in Nigeria’s efforts to modernise civil registration, strengthen vital statistics and ensure accurate documentation of births and deaths.

The commissioner said that Nigeria records an estimated five million births annually, but millions of births and deaths still remain unregistered.

He said that birth registration coverage currently stood at about 57 per cent nationwide, while death registration remained below 20 per cent.

Radda said that the low registration rates deprived many Nigerians of legal identity and limited the availability of reliable demographic data needed for effective planning and governance.

He said that the VitalReg platform would provide faster registration services, 24-hour online access, digital certificate issuance where applicable, reduced paperwork and waiting time, and little or no need for physical travel.

“The digital transformation is part of the commission’s commitment to leveraging technology to improve service delivery, strengthen data integrity and support evidence-based national planning,” the commissioner said.

He said that VitalReg had been designed for secure interoperability with government institutions within Nigeria’s digital identity ecosystem.

According to him, the development would strengthen service delivery and support the Federal Government’s broader digital transformation and national identity management agenda.

He said that NPC had signed a partnership agreement with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), UNICEF and Barnksforte Technologies Ltd. on the decentralisation and localisation of birth registration and legal identity.

Radda said the partnership was aimed at taking registration services closer to communities; improving operational efficiency; and strengthening grassroots participation in civil registration.

He, however, stressed that birth registration and birth notification services remained highly subsidised.

The commissioner said that the digital registration system was being operated under a Public-Private Partnership arrangement with Barnksforte Technologies Ltd., the Commission’s technical partner.

According to him, the arrangement will ensure continuous system availability, cybersecurity protection and regular technological improvements.

He also appreciated state governments, local government councils, development partners, healthcare institutions, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations and the media for their support.

Radda said that the reforms would help Nigeria build a modern civil registration system capable of providing legal identity from birth, credible demographic data and stronger support for national development planning.