The National Population Commission (NPC) is the federal body that registers births in Nigeria and issues the Certificate of Birth under the Births, Deaths, Etc. (Compulsory Registration) Act, Cap B9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. This is the birth document foreign authorities (French consulate, Campus France, universities) expect — and it is what item "birth certificate from the National Population Commission" on the Campus France checklist refers to.

Which document — don't confuse the two

NPC Certificate of Birth — the full civil-status certificate (fields below). This is the one to present abroad.
Attestation of Birth — an interim/short slip (often issued by a hospital or at registration, sometimes for children under a certain age). It is not the Certificate of Birth and is frequently rejected abroad. If you only have an attestation, obtain the full NPC Certificate of Birth before a visa/study file.
An age declaration (sworn affidavit at a court) is a fallback only for people with no registered birth — weaker than an NPC certificate; avoid relying on it for a consulate if a real certificate can be obtained.

What it looks like — fields on the certificate

A current NPC Certificate of Birth ("ORIGINAL" marked top-right, green guilloché security border, NPC seals in the corners) carries:

Registration Center, LGA (Local Government Area), State
the registration date ("registered on … at the registration center")
Certificate Number — a state-prefixed alphanumeric (e.g. begins with the state code), repeated at the bottom next to a QR code
National Identification Number (NIN) — the holder's 11-digit NIN (often shown partly masked)
Full Name (surname, then given names), Sex, Date of Birth
LGA/State of Birth, Locality of Birth
Full Name of Mother, Full Name of Father
Name of Registrar, issue Date, and the NPC Chairman signature line
a Tracking ID (may read "N/A" on some issues)
a falsification caution (falsifying or using a false certificate is an offence)

Older handwritten certificates and pre-QR issues exist and are valid, but the current QR/NIN-bearing version is the most readily accepted and verifiable abroad.

How to obtain or replace it

Register/obtain at an NPC office or LGA registration centre; recent registrations are captured in the NPC's electronic system and produce the QR-coded certificate.
For a lost or damaged certificate, request a re-issue/reprint from the NPC (bring identifying details — full name, date and place of birth, parents' names, and the NIN or original certificate number if you have it). Confirm the current procedure and any fee with the NPC or the issuing centre — processes and digitisation vary by state and change over time.
Verify a certificate's authenticity via its QR code / Certificate Number where the issue supports it.

Using it abroad (e.g. France)

A Nigerian civil-status document is not accepted abroad on its own. Two separate things are needed:

Authenticate the Nigerian document for use abroad (notary → MFA Abuja → destination embassy) — see authenticate-documents.
Meet the destination country's own requirement for foreign documents. For France that is legalisation/apostille + a sworn French translation — see France's foreign-document rules.

Confirm specifics with the French Embassy in Abuja / the consulate handling your file — requirements vary and change.

Pièges connus

Presenting an attestation of birth where a Certificate of Birth is required.
Bringing the certificate abroad without legalisation + sworn French translation.
Name-order mismatches (surname vs given names) between the certificate, passport and academic documents — consulates flag inconsistencies; make sure they match.

Sources

National Population Commission — nationalpopulation.gov.ng (birth registration & certificate) (checked 2026-07)
Births, Deaths, Etc. (Compulsory Registration) Act, Cap B9, LFN 2004 (statutory basis printed on the certificate)
Field structure verified 2026-07 against an original current-issue certificate

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