Project_Certificate_REquest

II
DEVELOPMENT OF A WEB APPLICATION FOR BIRTH AND
DEATH CERTIFICATE REQUEST
BY
AGBOLABORI PELUMI MOSES
MATRIC NO : 179129
A PROJECT IN THE DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF SCIENCE IN PARTIAL
FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF
THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF
IBADAN, IBADAN NIGERIA.
DECEMBER 2016

III
ABSTRACT
The manual method of obtaining birth or death certificate is complex and impractical for
increase in birth rate and death rate. The cost of obtaining a birth or death certificate, risk
and stress of communicating with the National Population Commission (NPC) officials,
loss of certificate are some of the possible problems of the manual process of obtaining
birth or death certificate. Before a birth or death certificate can be issued by NPC, the
birth or death must have been registered. Birth and Death registration became very
important as a result of difficulties encountered while obtaining accurate population
statistics essential in social services planning. It also makes sure that adequate resources
and budgets are made available to meet the needs of the population at large.
The performance of the web based birth and death certificate request application was
evaluated in terms of speed, accessibility, cost and capacity. The result confirmed that the
proposed web based birth and death certificate request application will be able to assist
government officials in terms of having a easily and globally accessible system, speeding
up the process of issuing birth or death certificates, it eliminates having certificate in
paper form, it reduces stress of communicating with government officials and finally
reduces the cost of obtaining certificates.
This study therefore aims to address the challenges faced by citizens in obtaining birth or
death certificates from NPC by using a web based birth and death certificate request
application. The implementation of the proposed system is achieved using MySql for the
database,PHP for programming the interface and Bootstrap for the User Interface.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATION………………………………………………………………………………………II
DEDICATION………………………………………………………………………………………....III
ACKOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………………………..IV
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………………...VI
TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………………………….VII
LIST OF FIGURES...............................................................................................................................X
LIST OF TABLES.................................................................................................................................XI
CHAPTER ONE........................................................................................................................................ 1
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY..........................................................................................................1
1.2 PROBLEM DEFINITION/STATEMENT...........................................................................................5
1.3 JUSTIFICATION OF STUDY............................................................................................................ 6
1.4 AIM AND OBJECTIVES....................................................................................................................6
1.5 OBJECTIVES......................................................................................................................................6
1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................ 7
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY....................................................................................................................8
1.7 CONSTRAINTS OF THE STUDY.....................................................................................................8
The major constraint of this project will be time and finance, hence the project will only allow
application for two certificates.The birth certificate and death certificate................................................8
1.9 CHAPTER SUMMARY......................................................................................................................9
1.10 PROJECT LAYOUT..........................................................................................................................9
CHAPTER TWO............................................................................................................................. 11
LITERATURE REVIEW.................................................................................................................11
2.1 BIRTH REGISTRATION..........................................................................................................11
2.2 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIRTH REGISTRATION AND LEGAL IDENTITY.............. 12
2.3 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIRTH REGISTRATION AND ACCESS TO SERVICES.....13

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2.4 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIRTH REGISTRATION AND CHILD PROTECTION....... 15
2.5 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIRTH REGISTRATION AND GOVERNMENT PLANNING17
2.6 BENEFITS OF BIRTH REGISTRATION................................................................................18
2.7 LIMITATIONS AND CHALLENGES..................................................................................... 19
 Number of registration centers grossly insufficient......................................................................... 19
2.8 STRATEGIC APPROACH TO PROMOTING BIRTH REGISTRATION IN NIGERIA.......20
2.8.1 HISTORY OF BIRTH CERTIFICATE.................................................................................. 21
2.8.2 BIRTH CERTIFICATE...........................................................................................................23
2.8.3 WHO MAY REQUEST FOR A BIRTH CERTIFICATE.......................................................23
2.9 DEATH REGISTRATION.........................................................................................................24
2.9.1 SITUATION OF DEATH REGISTRATION IN AFRICA.................................................... 26
2.9.2 Origins of death registration...................................................................................................27
2.9.2.1 Death registration in the United States................................................................................30
2.10 DEATH CERTIFICATE.......................................................................................................... 32
2.11 E-CERTIFICATE.....................................................................................................................33
2.11.1 WHAT AN E-CERTIFICATE OFFERS...............................................................................33
2.12 RELATED WORKS................................................................................................................ 34
2.13 CHAPTER SUMMARY..........................................................................................................36
CHAPTER THREE................................................................................................................. 38
SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN....................................................................................38
3.1 DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF EXISTING..........................................................38
3.2 DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM..............................39
3.2 FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS..................................................................................40
3.3 NON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS........................................................................42
3.4 USE CASE DIAGRAM.................................................................................................... 43
3.5 DATA FLOW DIAGRAM.................................................................................................46
3.5.1 CONTEXT DIAGRAM..................................................................................................47

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3.6 ENTITY RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAM............................................................................48
3.7 ENTITY-RELATIONAL MODEL....................................................................................49
3.8 DATABASE DESIGN....................................................................................................... 50
3.9 CHAPTER SUMMARY....................................................................................................58
CHAPTER FOUR........................................................................................................... 59
SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION AND DOCUMENTATION........................................ 59
4.1 CHOICE OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE USED............................................59
4.2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS................................................................................... 59
4.2.1 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS......................................................................... 59
4.2.2 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS...........................................................................60
4.3 MODULES EXPLANATION (DOCUMENTATION).............................................60
4.4 USER’S MANUAL...................................................................................................61
4.4.1 RUNNING THE SYSTEM.................................................................................... 61
4.5 IMPLEMENTATION MODEL.................................................................................63
4.5.1 COMPONENT DIAGRAM................................................................................... 63
4.6 SCREEN SHOTS...................................................................................................... 69
CHAPTER FIVE..................................................................................................... 85
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONN AND RECOMMENDATION..............................85
5.1 SUMMARY.......................................................................................................85
5.2 CONCLUSION................................................................................................. 85
5.3 RECOMMENDATION..................................................................................... 86

VII
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 3.1 Use Case Diagram of Proposed System................................................................................ 44
Figure 3.2 Context Diagram for Proposed System................................................................................. 46
Figure 3.3 E-R Diagram of Proposed System.........................................................................................47
Figure 3.4 Entity-Relational Model of Proposed System....................................................................... 48
Figure 4.1 Component diagram of Birth and Death Certificate Request..................................74
Figure 4.2 Register Page.........................................................................................................................79
Figure 4.3 Login Page.............................................................................................................................80
Figure 4.4 Home Page............................................................................................................................81
Figure 4.5 Applicant Page.......................................................................................................................82
Figure 4.6 Birth Certificate Page............................................................................................................83
Figure 4.7 Death Certificate Page..........................................................................................................84
Figure 4.8 Admin Panel Page................................................................................................................85
Figure 4.9 Admin Edit Page...................................................................................................................86
Figure 4.10 Admin Login Page..............................................................................................................87
Figure 4.1 1 Payment Page.....................................................................................................................88
Figure 4.12 Pdf birth Certificate Page....................................................................................................89
Figure 4.13Pdf Death Certificate Page...................................................................................................90
Figure 4.14 View Applicant and Proof Page...........................................................................................91
Figure 4.15 Email Page...........................................................................................................................92

VIII
LIST OF TABLES
 Table 3.1 : ADMINS TABLE....................................................................................49
 Table 3.2 : APPLICANT TABLE..........................................................................50
 Table 3.3 : BIRTH.....................................................................................................52
 Table 3.4 : DEATH....................................................................................................55
 Table 4.1 : DESCRIPTION OF ELEMENTS OF COMPONENT DIAGRAM..79

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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
There is widespread research interest in information and communication technologies
(ICTs). ICTs are crucially important for sustainable development in developing countries.
(Crede and Mansell, 1998). For the past two decades most developed countries have
witnessed significant changes that can be traced to ICTs (Thioune ,2003). These
multi-dimensional changes have been observed in almost all aspects of life: economics,
education, communication, and travel. In a technology driven society, getting information
quickly is important for both sender and receiver. ICTs have made it possible to quickly
find and distribute information. Many initiatives have taken at the international level to
support Africa's efforts to develop a communication infrastructure and. These efforts are
designed to enable African countries, including Nigeria, to find faster ways to achieve
durable and sustainable development. (Thoiune ,2003)
Information technology (IT) has had the greatest impact of the technological changes that
have influenced our lives in recent years. (Akpore,1999)
An information society is one that makes the best possible use of ICTs. This a society in
which the quality of life, as well as prospects for social change and economic
development, depend increasingly upon information and its exploitation. (Martin,1995).In

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such a society, living standards, patterns of work and leisure, the education system, and
marketplace are all influenced by advances in information and knowledge. This is
evidenced by an increasing array of information intensive products and services (Martin,
1988).
The information society is a way for human capacity to be expanded, built up, nourished,
and liberated by giving people access to tools and technologies, with the education and
training to use them effectively. There is a unique opportunity to connect and assist those
living in the poorest and most isolated regions of the world. Informatisation of society is a
major hurdle that most nations, especially developing countries, are encountering. (Annan,
2002)
The information society or information age is a phenomenon that began after 1950, which
brings challenges as we seek to integrate and expand the universe of print and multimedia
sources. The two terms are often used to describe a cybernetic society in which there is a
great dependence on the use of computers and data transmission linkages to generate and
transmit information (Bruce, 1995).
The E-Government paradigm means rendering of government services and information
to public using the electronic media.The new shape of government has brought a
revolution in the quality of services delivered to the citizens. It has ushered in
transparency in the governing process; saving the time due to provision of service
through single window; simplification of procedures; better office and record
management; reduction in corruption and improved attitude, behaviour and job handling

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capacity of the dealing personnel (Monga, 2008).
At the beginning of the Internet revolution organizations and companies uses the internet
to adopt e-business and e-commerce, in public sector the comparable term is the
e-government (Australian Government. Information management office).
E-Government is not merely the computerization of a government system, but a belief in
the ability of technology to achieve high levels of improvement in various areas of
government, thus transforming the nature of politics and the relation between government
and citizens (Dada, 2006).
Nigeria, like every other nation in the global community is striving to achieve a standard
where e-governance becomes the order of the day. It has set for itself the goal of
developing its ICT structure to a level where ICT becomes an avenue for sending and
receiving information from one sector of the society to the other. Nigeria has employed
various techniques to boost its ICT sector, thereby making Nigeria’s telecommunication
and ICT sector the fastest growing market in the African continent. Nigeria needs to
introduce e-governance in all sphere of the society so as to ensure the efficiency of public
services and the free flow of information from one sector to another. (Aneke, 2013)
Between 2011 and 2013, Nigerian government had adopted various online procedures
such as mobile apps and mobile portals to directly support poverty eradication, gender
equality, social inclusion and the promotion of economic development, environmental
protection and disaster management (Adeyemo, 2013). Despite the various strategies

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which the global community has adopted in fostering the growth of ICT connectivity and
projecting the importance of adopting e-governance for service delivery purposes, there
remains a fundamentally different dispersion of e-government services in Nigeria.
Despite various attempts to improve its e-governance status and nature, the international
system still ranks the nation among those countries with low e-governance level
(Adeyemo, 2013) .
The study was conducted in a semi-urban community which as shown in this study has
population characterized by presence of people of various educational status and
occupation. Majority of the respondents are males this is because most head of the
households are males. (Akande and Sekoni, 2005)
Awareness of birth registration in this community is high as shown by over 90% of
respondents who had knowledge of birth registration and have heard of parents who
registered their children’s birth. The most common source of awareness is through the
government agencies. Locating the National Population Commission in Local
Government Offices is therefore a major advantage. It is however doubtful if
communities outside the Local Government headquarters will have this level of
awareness since this study showed that few people became aware through the mass media
and interpersonal information. It will be necessary to use the mass media for wide
dissemination of information on registration of births and deaths. (Akande and Sekoni,
2005)

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Awareness of death registration is low among the study population. Jewkes et al also
reported low knowledge of death registration in Egypt. This shows that even the
government agencies put more emphasis on birth registration and information on death
registration is not disseminated as much as that of birth registration. In a semi-urban
community like Oke-Oyi where home deliveries are common and the available health
facilities may not issue birth certificates, most parents will take advantage of birth
registration to obtain a birth certificate. About 80% of the respondents knew the
difference between birth registration and birth certificate. (Akande and Sekoni, 2005)
Therefore, this project will increase the awareness of birth and death registration in the
country and also increase vital statistics for the national population commission by
allowing citizens to apply for birth or death certificate online.
1.2 PROBLEM DEFINITION/STATEMENT
Child-birth and death registration became an issue of utmost importance as a result of
difficulties encountered while obtaining accurate population statistics essential in social
services planning for any government and in ensuring that adequate resources and
budgets are made available to address the needs of the population. The obstacles to child
birth and death registration are difficult access to civil registry services, the cost of
registering a birth or death, long distances to registration centres and loss of registration
certificate. Additionally, many people do not prioritize child-birth and death registration
as they focus on coping with an array of other daily challenges.

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1.3 JUSTIFICATION OF STUDY
The relevance and benefits of this study cannot be over-emphasized they include:
1. improved efficiency in obtaining certificates
2. increase in transparency and accountability of government administrators issuing
certificates to citizens.
3. Certificate in digital format.
1.4 AIM AND OBJECTIVES
The aim of this project work is to develop a Web application for birth and death
certificate request for national population commission through which citizens via internet
can obtain their birth or death certificate faster,more efficiently and in a digital format.
1.5 OBJECTIVES
 The Web application for birth and death certificate request will enable citizens to
register on the website.

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 The Web application for birth and death certificate request will have a login page for
citizens to login.
 The Web application for birth and death certificate request will have a portal for
citizens to request for birth or death certificate. By filling several forms
 Citizen will be able to pay for their certificate through online payment.
 Citizens would be able to download their certificate in Adobe Portable Document
Format.
1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research on projects similar to my proposed work will be examined to look into the flaws
and success of past projects in other to get good information that will make my proposed
work a success.The research is made via the internet and from journals.This project will
make use of the waterfall model; requirements analysis, design, implementation, testing,
integration and maintenance. The functionality of the system is captured using Use Case,
Data Flow Diagram, Entity-Relational diagram and Entity-Relationship Diagram. The
project will be implemented using PHP, Bootstrap web template, Mysqli, Xammp Server,
Notepad++.

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1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The project is intended to create a website where citizens can request for birth certificate
and death certificate only.
1.7 CONSTRAINTS OF THE STUDY
The major constraint of this project will be time and finance, hence the project will only
allow application for two certificates.The birth certificate and death certificate
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
 Citizen : A legally recognized subject or national of a state or commonwealth, either
native or naturalized.
 Online : Connected by computer to one or more computers or networks, as through a
commercial electronic information service or the internet.
 ICT (Information and Communications Technology) : The study of the technology
used to handle information and aid communication.

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 Information Society : Information Society is a term for a society in which the
creation, distribution, and manipulation of information has become the most
significant economic and cultural activity.
1.9 CHAPTER SUMMARY
This chapter gives an introduction to the project, explaining the purpose, scope and
approach of the project, it gives a general introduction to Information and
Communications Technology and E-government in Nigeria and awareness of birth and
death registration by citizens.The need for birth certificate by the citizens and civil
registry services.
1.10 PROJECT LAYOUT
This work is divided into five chapters, carefully organised as follows :
 Chapter one of this project gives an introduction to the project, explaining the
purpose, scope and approach of the project, it gives a general introduction to
Information and Communications Technology and E-government in Nigeria and
awareness of birth and death registration by citizens.The need for birth certificate by
the citizens and civil registry services.
 Chapter two, the literature review, gives an overview of Web application for birth and
death certificate request gives an explanation of all concepts, theories, and protocols

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employed in the course of the project, it includes information on birth registration,
relationship between birth registration and some concepts, benefits of birth
registration, limitations and challenges, history of birth certificate, definition of birth
certificate, death registration , origin of death registration, death certificate ,e
-certificate and related works.
 Chapter three gives analysis and a step by step guide to the design of the system.
 Chapter four goes over the process of implementing application and the functioning
of the entire system. It also includes documentation for users of the application.
 Chapter five gives a summary of the entire project and conclusions drawn up at the
end of the project as well as recommendations.

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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 BIRTH REGISTRATION
Birth registration, “the continuous, permanent and universal recording within the civil
registry, of the occurrence and characteristics of births in accordance with the legal
requirements of a country,” (UNICEF, 2013) is a fundamental right of all children and a
basic function of all modern governments. It comprises two elements: entering details of
a child’s birth (in addition to other relevant information) into official government records,
and issuing a ‘birth certificate’ to the child’s parents, including information on the date
and place of birth, parents’ names, and further information such as nationality (Cody,
2009). UNICEF describes birth registration as part of an effective civil registration
system that acknowledges the person’s existence before the law, establishes family ties,
and tracks the major events of an individual’s life, from birth to marriage and death
(UNICEF, 2013). The right to birth registration is contained in the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which provides that “the child shall be
registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right
to a nationality.”(The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) As well as
being a ‘right’ in itself, birth registration has also been linked with a wide range of other
rights and benefits, such as securing a child’s access to essential services and protecting
children from abuse and exploitation. As part of a complete and accurate civil registration
system, birth registration has also been linked to more effective child rights planning and

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governance, and, more broadly, to promoting social and economic growth (UNICEF,
2013).
Given the extensive scope of the anticipated benefits of birth registration, there has been
an increasing interest by development partners in implementing programmes on birth
registration in countries with low rates of registration and a rapidly emerging body of
literature written on the subject(Prior to child rights organisations). To date, however,
most of the literature has focused on explaining and justifying the case for increased birth
registration, or exploring barriers to implementing effective birth registration systems,
and ensuring access to birth registration for vulnerable individuals. There remains a
significant lack of available empirical research that explores the effects of birth
registration and if and how it benefits children in practice (The Inter American
Development Bank ).
2.2 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIRTH REGISTRATION AND LEGAL
IDENTITY
Legal identity is a direct and important benefit of birth registration; as it provides official
government recognition of a child’s existence and identity. A birth certificate provides
proof of a child’s identity, and can be used to access other important legal identity
documents, such as passports, national identity cards, voting cards and others; as well as a
range of rights, services and entitlements that (depending on the context) may be used to
claim rights, entitlements and benefits that are afforded to a child (person) as a result of
that identity. While birth registration is not the only way of establishing legal identity, it is
one important means by which an individual may establish their legal identity, right from

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the moment of birth. Birth registration does not necessarily confer legal residency or
citizenship on a child. However, possessing a birth certificate has a strong relationship
with a child’s (person’s) ability to claim their citizenship or residency rights; a birth
certificate provides proof of a person’s place of birth, as well as the identity of their
parents (the two legal principles according to which states around the world grant
citizenship rights). Nevertheless, whilst birth registration may provide a ‘ticket to
citizenship’ (UNICEF, 2013). or other legal status for ‘eligible’ groups, it does not
necessarily promote human rights, as much is dependent on the approach taken by
different states to fulfill internationally agreed human rights. Whilst birth registration and
legal identity were currently found to have more relevance in the lives of more urban,
affluent populations, official proof of identity is likely to become increasingly important
in the context of economic growth, globalization and as formal governance structures
expand. UNICEF has pointed out that: ‘in many low-income countries, even in remote
rural areas, proof of identify is required for the acquisition of a mobile phone.’(UNICEF,
2013)
2.3 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIRTH REGISTRATION AND ACCESS
TO SERVICES
Historically, much of the existing literature on birth registration has focused on the
relationship between birth registration and an individuals’ ability to access basic services
such as education, health care and social security. One of the central tenets of Plan’s
‘Count Every Child’ Campaign has been that ‘if they can’t prove who they are and where
they come from, a child may be denied access to health services or education.’(Cody,
2009) According to UNICEF’s Executive Director, Anthony Lake in a statement given at

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a high level panel discussion on birth registration at the United Nations: ‘[birth
registration] unlocks the door to healthcare, to education and to social benefits.’(UNICEF,
2012) Indeed, UNICEF maintains that birth registration is critical to fulfilling social,
economic and cultural rights, as well as the civil and political rights of children. Their
recent handbook on birth registration notes that ‘a birth certificate may be required to
obtain access to basic services such as health and education.’ (UNICEF, 2013)
There is existing evidence that indicates an ‘association’ between birth registration and
access to services. Several studies have explored the possibility of an association between
rates of birth registration and higher school enrolment and retention rates and whether
this exists independently of mandatory registration policies.(Corbacho, et al,2012)
Quantitative studies have revealed correlations between immunisations and birth
registration, due to the emerging practice of using the provision of health services as an
opportunity for registering births.(UNICEF, 2005) However as noted by the Asian
Development Bank in a study on legal identity, which considered the impact of birth
registration on access to services in developing countries: ‘In considering the role of birth
registration in improving the living standards of vulnerable populations, correlation
should not be confused with causation.’(Vandenabeele & Lao, 2007) It is often the case
that as birth registration rates increase, provision of and access to basic services also
increases, however, both of these trends may be caused by the expansion of governance,
which is likely to include both increased service provision and increased registration of
births.

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The first reason why birth registration may be important for accessing services is that, in
some countries, a particular law, policy or practice requires individuals to produce birth
certificates to prove eligibility. Access to these services, such as education, health, social
security benefits, and other services are, in some countries, made conditional on age or
parentage. The relationship between birth registration and access to services may also
take other forms. Some have suggested that enforcing birth registration laws may have a
positive impact on the ‘quality’ of service delivery, for instance by addressing the
problem of age-grade incongruence in school.(Hossain,2010) It has also been argued that
the information provided by birth registration data can improve the effective delivery of
services, and thus increase access. Accurate data about the distribution of the population
obtained through an effective civil registration system may also allow the government to
plan and distribute resources more effectively. For example, according to the World
Health Organisation (WHO): ‘vital statistics are used to derive the fundamental
demographic and epidemiological measures that are needed in national planning across
multiple sectors such as education, labour and health.’ (WHO, 2010)
2.4 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIRTH REGISTRATION AND CHILD
PROTECTION
The potential of a birth certificate to support a child’s right to protection from violence,
abuse, exploitation and neglect, is one of the most widely emphasised benefits of
universal birth registration. Advocates and service providers have emphasised the role a
birth certificate can play in protecting children against a wide range of rights abuses. To
name a few, this includes: protection from exploitative labour; early marriage;

25
conscription into the army; sexual abuse and exploitation; discrimination; and protection
in the circumstance of coming into contact or conflict with the law.
In their recent handbook on birth registration ‘A Passport to Protection’ UNICEF have
emphasised that: ‘UNICEF supports universal birth registration within the context of an
overall child protection system. Such an approach recognises the link between
non-registration and the risk of exploitation and abuse.’(UNICEF, 2013) Furthermore, in
a recent publication UNHCR (United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights) argued: ‘children without birth registration are more vulnerable to
protection risks such as trafficking, child labour, child marriage, illegal adoption, sexual
exploitation and recruitment into armed forces and groups’.(UNHCR, 2013)
The expected relationship between universal birth registration and child protection (CP)
is perhaps clearest when the risks children face are themselves a direct result of their
interaction with formal legal systems and rules, such as, for example, when children come
into contact with the criminal justice process. Indeed, this is how the logic of the
relationship between universal birth registration and CP is usually framed: a birth
certificate can protect children’s rights under the law, because it provides a tool by which
legal rules, designed to protect children, can be claimed and enforced. A birth certificate
can do this because it contains information about a child’s age and identity, and it is their
age (and less commonly identity) which affords a child special rights and protection
under the law. For example, arrangement of a child marriage may be prevented where the
child has a birth certificate proving that she is under the legal minimum age for marriage;
or the prosecution of a child for a crime may be prevented where the child has a birth

26
certificate which provides legal proof that he or she was under the minimum age of
criminal responsibility at the time the offence was committed. As Plan International
explain in their 2009 ‘Count Every Child’ report: ‘The benefits of having a birth
certificate are particularly clear in the area of child protection, where proof of a child’s
age is a pre-condition to effective law enforcement. A birth certificate documents a
person’s age and, as children under the age of 18 are entitled to particular rights and legal
protection, proof of age can go some way toward protecting children who are exploited or
come to harm in a variety of ways.’ (Cody, 2009)
2.5 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIRTH REGISTRATION AND
GOVERNMENT PLANNING
Advocates for universal birth registration, particularly in the context of development,
often emphasise its importance for ‘development planning’. The Asian Development
Bank notes that the civil registration process ‘can generate continuous population data,
which could be useful to both government agencies and donor organisations in policy
planning and defining development priorities.’(Vandenabeele & Lao , 2007)
The particular value of birth registration data to governments, and the expected
relationship between birth registration and governance, are summarised below:
 Birth registration is an integral part of a civil registration system, which is understood
to provide government with crucial data about population dynamics and vital
statistics information on national and sub-national levels;

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 Civil registration data is preferable to other forms of data (such as census data)
because it is the only population data that is complete, continuous, real time, and
accurate;
 Accurate data can improve a number of government functions, including the
planning and implementation of public services and development programmes across
sectors. It can also be used to evaluate the impact of policies and programmes and
thus improve their effectiveness;
 Given that donors often base their calculations for development assistance on
population information, reliable civil registration may strengthen country
applications for donor support, and CRVS systems may also be relevant for
measuring development indicators.(UNECA, 2012)
2.6 BENEFITS OF BIRTH REGISTRATION
 Ensuring that children enroll in school at the appropriate age
 Providing access to health care services and immunization
 Effectively countering the problem of girls forced into marriage before they are
legally eligible, without proof of age
 Ensuring that children in conflict with the law are given special protection, and not

28
treated (legally and practically) as adults.
 Ensuring that children are given adequate health care.
 Securing the child’s right to nationality, at the time of birth or at a later stage.
 Helping to identify children who are trafficked, eventually repatriated and reunited
with family members.
 Ensuring the right to a passport, the right to vote but also useful for opening a bank
account or finding employment
 Helping the enforcement of laws relating to minimum age of employment,
facilitating efforts to prevent exploitative child labor (UNICEF, 2007)
2.7 LIMITATIONS AND CHALLENGES
 Number of registration centers grossly insufficient
 Limited financial support for birth registration processes
 Lack of awareness of the importance of birth registration as a human right
 Ignorance and illiteracy of the rural men and women on the importance of birth
registration

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 Decline of women’s access to maternity centers because of increased poverty and
high medical costs
 Distance to birth registration centers due to bad roads or non availability of public
transport for those in rural areas
 Lack of effective registration infrastructures
 Low level of awareness of current legislation (UNICEF, 2007)
2.8 STRATEGIC APPROACH TO PROMOTING BIRTH REGISTRATION
IN NIGERIA
 Support Government for conducting a national campaign to raise public awareness
on the importance of birth registration. The campaign was launched on 24 July, 2007,
in Abuja by the Vice President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, and brought
together over 500 participants including representatives from Government,
Parliament, civil society, faith-based organizations, traditional rulers,
community-based organizations, professional associations, partner/donor agencies,
UN agencies and the media. This launch demonstrated the Government’s
commitment to increase birth registration coverage nationwide.

30
 Support the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (national radio) for broadcasting a
three-month campaign on child trafficking on birth registration which will be aired
on the national Network from 1
st
of October to December 31
st
2007, including daily
jingles.
 Provide financial, logistical and technical support for the development and
publication of a clean and comprehensive report on the current level of births
registered in Nigeria from 1995-2006. The published report will include the
modalities for a sustainable systemic monitoring mechanism for documenting births
of children born in Nigeria and will also be used for advocacy.
 In collaboration with partners, embark on strong resource mobilization strategies in
and outside the country and involve governments, legislators, development partners,
donor agencies, health and education sectors, civil society networks, children’s
parliament and other stakeholders.
 Strengthen institutional capacity of the National Population Commission (Vital
Registration Department) to collate, analyze and process and generate birth
registration data consistently at the States and country level (UNICEF, 2007)
2.8.1 HISTORY OF BIRTH CERTIFICATE
The documentation of births is a practice widely held throughout human civilization,
especially in China, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Persia. The original purpose of vital

31
statistics was for tax purposes and for the determination of available military manpower.
Births were initially registered with churches, who maintained registers of births. This
practice continued into the 19th
century (Jacksonville, 2007). The compulsory registration
of births with governmental agencies is a practice that originated in the United Kingdom
in 1853 (UK General Registry Office, 2009). The US did not get a standardized system
until 1902 (Brumberg et al, 2012).
The right of every child to name and nationality, and responsibility of national
governments to achieve this are contained in Articles 7 and 8 in the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child: “ The child shall be registered immediately after
birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a
nationality...”(CRC Article 7) and”States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child
to preserve his/her identity, including nationality, name and family relations..”(CRC
Article 8) (Office of the United Nations High Commisioner for Human Rights, 1989).
“...it’s a small paper but it actually establishes who you are and gives access to the rights
and privileges, and the obligations, of citizenship. (Tutu & Sharp, 2005)
Despite 191 countries ratifying the Convention, the births of millions of children
worldwide go unregistered. By their very nature, data concerning unregistered children
are approximate; however, it was estimated in 2008 that 51 million babies - more than
two fifths of those born worldwide - were not registered at birth (Childinfo.org).

32
This phenomenon disproportionately impacts indigenous populations and even in many
developed countries, contributes to difficulties in fully accessing civic rights (Gerba,
2009).
2.8.2 BIRTH CERTIFICATE
A birth certificate is an important personal document, used for:
 legal identity
 Age, sex or nationality
 Travelling abroad or applying for a passport
 Applying for health services, a social insurance number or a driver;s license
 Child enrolment in school
 Settling an estate
 Receiving old age pension
(http://www.hss.gov.nt.ca/en/services/naissance/birth-certificate) .
2.8.3 WHO MAY REQUEST FOR A BIRTH CERTIFICATE
 The person named on the birth registration
 Individuals recorded as parents on the birth registration

33
 A legal representative of the person whose name appears on the birth registration
 A child or grandchild of the person whose birth is registered
 An agent, or any other person, on the written authorisation of the person concerned
or the parents
 A person who requires the certificate for use in a court of law, for adoption or for
settlement of an estate
2.9 DEATH REGISTRATION
Death is one of the priority vital events recommended by the United Nations for
registration(The recording of foetal deaths is also important because it supports the
accurate recording of live births and infant deaths). Death and cause-of-death records are
primary inputs for governance and development. Mortality statistics derived from these
records provide critical evidence for health policy and planning. Death records can be
used to ensure voting rolls and other registers or administrative collections are accurate
reflections of current records.
Death registration serves two major purposes:
1. Legal and Administrative: An individual’s right to be counted at both extremes
of life is fundamental to social inclusion. Although the death of a loved one is a cause for

34
sorrow, it is legally necessary for the next of kin to register the death and obtain a death
certificate. Death certificates provide legal evidence of the fact and circumstances of
death and are often prerequisites for burial, remarriage, inheritance, social assistance or
the resolution of criminal cases that may arise in relation to its occurrence.
Death records are also of use in public safety and accident prevention programmes,
and in removing files dealing with individual identification systems, social security,
electoral lists, taxation and government service files.
2. Statistical: Death and cause of death records provide the basis for the compilation of
mortality statistics, which are primary inputs for health policy and planning, for
monitoring and evaluation of health programmes, and for identifying and prioritizing
health research activities. Mortality and cause-of-death statistics benefit societies
because they help Governments to plan services for their citizens.
Death and cause-of-death records are of particular importance in public health for
identifying the magnitude and distribution of major disease threats. Accurate and timely
data for mortality by age, gender and cause, both nationally and subnationally, are
essential for the design, implementation, monitoring and assessment of health
programmes and policies. Such health estimates also help to determine where billions of
dollars in health funding can be effectively distributed and invested. The estimates justify
public health spending on interventions to tackle major causes of premature mortality,
such as immunization to prevent measles, access to skilled care to prevent maternal

35
mortality, tobacco control measures to prevent deaths from cancer and cardiovascular
diseases, and behaviour-change interventions to prevent HIV/AIDS
Citizens in developing countries pay a heavy price when public health decision-making is
impeded by the absence of reliable and comprehensive data. Both government
expenditure and development assistance can be jeopardized if countries are unable to
provide evidence of the effectiveness of interventions to avert premature deaths due to the
weakness of their civil registration and vital statistics systems.(http://
www.sciencemag.org/content/336/6087/1462.2.full).
2.9.1 SITUATION OF DEATH REGISTRATION IN AFRICA
In most parts of Africa, death registration lags far behind birth registration coverage.
Most deaths in Africa occur outside health facilities and their causes are rarely certified
by a doctor. The existing international guidelines and standards on improving civil
registration do not capture this unique context in Africa, thus the need to design and adopt
innovative approaches that are specific for the situation on the continent. Of the 46
member States in the World Health Organization (WHO) African region, only one
country can provide high-quality cause-of-death data (Mauritius), with another three able
to provide low or medium-quality data (Seychelles, South Africa and Zimbabwe). In
addition, Egypt and Morocco can provide low to medium-quality cause-of-death
data.(World Health Statistics, 2012)

36
The World Bank recently noted that lack of information on deaths and causes of death
means that problems arise from using estimates, and the only way to accurately track
progress will be through complete civil registration and vital statistics systems.(World
Bank,2014)
2.9.2 Origins of death registration
The beginnings of death registration can be found in mid-15th century Italy, where
medical education and social administration were more advanced than elsewhere in
Europe. The Councilors for the cities of northern Italy, remembering the great pandemics
of plague in the century before that killed more than one-third of the whole population of
Europe, set up boards of health to consider how best to deal with the recurring epidemics
that ravaged their populations. These boards of health enjoyed considerable power, but
they were essentially administrative and autocratic in nature. Although the detailed
practices of the board of one city might differ a little from those of another, the basic
principles under which they operated were fairly uniform. For example, a death certificate
or bill of mortality was required to be filed, containing the name and age of the deceased
and the cause of death certified by a physician or a certified surgeon, before a burial
certificate could be issued and arrangements could be made. In many of the cities, the
volumes containing these certificates dating to the 15th century are still
preserved.(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/classification_diseases2011)
Extending from this were quarantine regulations, that is, restriction of movement without
license and supervision of sanitary conditions in dwellings and in facilities for people

37
who were infected (i.e., pesthouses). Although the causes of infection were unknown,
edicts were issued that required fumigation where death had taken place. At one time, all
cats and dogs were ordered destroyed, increasing the rat population. The boards of health
were also authorized to deal with the quality of foods and water and the disposal of refuse
and sewage. Another advantage of the boards’ administrative structure was the
transmission of information about diseases from one city to another and about epidemic
occurrences in other countries, which ambassadors to those countries
conveyed.(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/classification_diseases2011)
In the 16th century, boards of health were set up in France, Switzerland, and the
Netherlands, but they were only temporary measures during a crisis, not continuous
organizations as in Italy. The practice of requiring a death certificate before a burial
permit could be issued spread from the Italian boards of health to other European
countries over time. Because they contained the name and age of the decedent and the
cause of death, data from the death certificates were used to monitor epidemics in the
various cities.(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/classification_diseases2011)
In England, three activities that foreshadowed death registration began in the 1530s: 1) In
1532, one of the earliest, if not the earliest, systematic collection of data on causes of
death, the Bills of Mortality, began. These weekly lists of burials in London included the
name of the deceased, the parish in which the burial took place, and the cause of death,
with particular reference to the plague. The cause of death was determined by searchers,
or “wise women” as they were known, after they had viewed the body. In more difficult
cases, the searcher consulted a physician. The searchers made their reports to the parish

38
clerk, who prepared an account of all burials in the preceding week every Tuesday night.
In these accounts, the numbers of deaths from plague and all other causes were summed
at the end of the listing. On Wednesdays, the general account was made and printed. The
bills were distributed on Thursday to subscribers who paid 4 shillings for an annual
subscription. 2) In 1534, Queen Elizabeth introduced quarantine and plague orders in
England. 3) Shortly thereafter, parish registers were also established in England. These
registers recorded baptisms rather than births and burials instead of deaths, and the
registers contained no information on causes of death.
(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/classification_diseases2011)
More than a century later, John Graunt conceived of the idea of using the Bills of
Mortality for analytical purposes (Graunt,1662). He made ingenious use of imperfect data
and made a number of generalizations, such as mortality in the earliest years of life being
relatively high. In the absence of mortality data by age, Graunt estimated the number of
deaths among children under age 5 years as follows: “Having premised these general
Advertisements, our first observations upon the Casualties shall be, that in twenty years
there dying of all Diseases and Casualties, 229,150 that 71,124 dyed of the Thrush,
Convulsions, Rickets, Teeth, and Worms; and as Abortives, Chrysomes, Infants,
Livergrowns, and Overlaids; that is to say, that about 1/3 of the whole dies of those
Diseases, which we guess did all light upon children under four or five years
old”(Graunt,1662).
Despite medical progress, the diagnostic quality of the bills did not improve. Interest in
these bills also waned. Clerks of many parishes failed to report or reported only

39
irregularly. Even when complete, the Bills of Mortality gave no information about the
population much beyond the walls of London. Starting in the mid-18th century, national
civil registration systems came into being and made possible the continuous recording of
births and deaths and the annual compilation of birth and death statistics. However, it was
not yet possible to produce comparable statistics on causes of death as disease
classification had not reached that stage of development (see Chapter 3). In 1837, the
Registration Act was passed in England with provisions for inquiry into causes of death in
the population. In 1839, William Farr was appointed compiler of abstracts in the
Registrar-General’s office, and he, probably more than anyone else, developed and
analyzed mortality statistics to delineate the sanitary and health problems of the day(Eyler
& Pelling,1979). After Florence Nightingale returned to England from the Crimean War,
she promoted the importance of and the need for hospital data and statistics on causes of
illness and causes of death in the armed forces at the political level, and she enlisted the
aid of Farr to work on the technical aspects of these problems.
2.9.2.1 Death registration in the United States
The English Registration Act of 1837 served as the prototype of the first state registration
law in the United States, enacted by Massachusetts in 1842. In the years following, births
and deaths were registered in a few of the largest cities and several states. In 1855, the
American Medical Association (AMA) adopted a resolution urging its members to take
immediate and concerted action in petitioning legislative bodies to establish offices for
the registration of vital events. By 1900, 10 states and the District of Columbia had met
the requirements of the U.S. Bureau of the Census for admission to the U.S. Death

40
Registration Area. The compilation of annual mortality statistics for the United States
began with these states in 1900. Nationwide coverage was achieved in
1933.(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/classification_diseases2011.pdf)
Unlike most countries, the civil registration system in the United States is a decentralized
system, that is, responsibility for the registration of vital events is in the hands of the
individual states (Hetzel, 1997). There is no national registration office—states have
complete autonomy with respect to registration matters. The system is coordinated by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics
(NCHS). Within NCHS, the Division of Vital Statistics is responsible for setting
standards and guidelines that have generally been accepted voluntarily by state offices,
and for the national compilation of vital
statistics.(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/classification_diseases2011.pdf)
In most countries except the United States, a family member or relative is required to
appear before the local registrar to register the death. The local registrar records certain
personal particulars and information about the death. If the registration law calls for data
on causes of death, the hospital in which the death took place or the physician in
attendance is required to forward the information to the local
registrar.(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/classification_diseases2011.pdf)
In the United States, the funeral director, not the family member, is responsible for
notifying the local registrar of the death. He or she obtains from a family member the
personal particulars of the decedent and other information called for on the death

41
certificate. He or she also obtains from the physician in attendance at death a completed
and duly signed medical certificate of death. If the death occurred without medical
attention or resulting from violence or suspected foul play, the case is referred to the
medicolegal authority, a coroner or medical examiner appointed locally, for review or
investigation.(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/classification_diseases2011.pdf)
The death certificate that the registrar files in the United States is a combined legal and
statistical form that includes the medical certificate of cause of death. Upon filing the
death certificate with the local registrar, the funeral director receives a burial permit or a
burial transit permit if the remains are to be shipped to another
state.(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/classification_diseases2011.pdf)
While registration practices differ somewhat by country, official mortality statistics on
causes of death are generally derived from the death record filed in compliance with the
registration law to prevent the illegal disposition of human remains. Cause-of-death
statistics are mainly by-products of a legal process, the registration of death. However,
not all countries are able to produce cause-of-death statistics using the registration model,
for example, because their medical care system does not extend to a large part of the
population.(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/classification_diseases2011.pdf)
2.10 DEATH CERTIFICATE
The death certificate is a permanent record of the fact of death, and depending on the
State of death, may be needed to get a burial permit. State law specifies the required time

42
for completing and filing the death certificate.
(https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/hb_cod.pdf)
The death certificate provides important personal information about the decedent and
about the circumstances and cause of death. This information has many uses related to the
settlement of the estate and provides family members closure, peace of mind, and
documentation of the cause of death. (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/hb_cod.pdf)
The death certificate is the source for State and national mortality statistics (figures 1–3)
and is used to determine which medical conditions receive research and development
funding, to set public health goals, and to measure health status at local, State, national,
and international levels. (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/hb_cod.pdf)
2.11 E-CERTIFICATE
What is an e-certificate ? An e-certificate is an authentic digital copy of any kind of paper
certificate in PDF format. It is a digital certificate with an electronic signature and other
typical characteristics of a certificate. (http://www.uic.es/en/e-certificate)
2.11.1 WHAT AN E-CERTIFICATE OFFERS
 An e-certificate cannot be counterfeited and can be easily verified.
 An e-certificate demonstrates that you are up to date technologically.

43
 An e-certificate is easy to send.
 It is fast, practical, inexpensive, ecological and secure.
 It can be easily retrieved from your email if lost.
(http://www.uic.es/en/e-certificate)
2.12 RELATED WORKS
This section shows works that are related to my project,their objectives and the difference
between my projects and the works.
 Implementing a Mobile-Based Child-Birth Registration System in Nigeria
The conventional method of child-birth registration is by human inspection. Manual
child-birth registration is complex and impractical for large increase in population of new
born babies. The cost of registering a child, risk and stress of commuting at the
registration centre, loss of registration certificate by the parent and child, inaccurate
population statistics are possible problems which inaccurate birth registration records can
cause. This study therefore aims to address the challenges facing families in the area of
child registering by using mobile technology for child-birth registration. The system
implementation is achieved using MySQL as the backend database, and object oriented
PHP as the application programming interface. (Ajayi et al, 2016) .

44
From above, the works is a mobile based application that only allows users to register
births online but my work is a web based application that allows users to apply for their
birth certificate and death certificate and as well get it in pdf format.
 A REVIEW OF BIRTH REGISTRATION
The study was to develop a comprehensive understanding of birth registration at different
levels on which could be based a proposal for a multi-stakeholder approach towards a
fully functional birth registration system in Ethiopia that is compulsory, universal,
permanent and continuous. In line with the overall purpose, the research sought to
investigate issues around the perception of individuals and institutions towards birth
registration, practices related to the issuance of birth certificates from various institutions,
the policy and legal environment for the enforcement of birth registration, the obstacles to
a birth registration system and the impact and effect of the absence of a birth registration
system in realising human rights, rights of children and development goals. The study
further identified the needs, problems, strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of
birth registration from the perspective of stakeholders that could feed into the ongoing
institutional efforts towards the establishment of a birth registration system in Ethiopia.
(Ato et al, 2005)
From above, the work focuses on developing a fully functional birth registration system
so as to have a comprehensive understanding of birth registration at different levels in
Ethiopia while my work is for Nigerian citizens only and it focuses on developing a

45
web-based application for birth and death certificate request and the citizens get their
certificate in pdf format.
 A PROGRAMME FOR MEASUREMENT OF LIFE AND DEATH IN GHANA
The Sample Registration System is developed to provide reliable estimates of live birth
and death rates for Ghana as well as separately for rural and urban areas. The sample
registration system of areas is contemplated to provide estimates of live birth and death
rates in situations where the total system is inefficient. This is in accordance with the
objective of obtaining estimates of the rate of population growth with minimal delay as an
aid to development planning, while at the same time promoting registration for the legal
and administrative advantages which it confers. Also, the methods and field procedures
will be used in the expansion and development of the Civil Registration System in Ghana
(UNFPA Project Progress Report, 1976).
From above, the work focuses on developing a sample registration system to provide
reliable estimates of live birth and death rates for Ghana while my work focuses on
developing a web-based application for birth and death certificate request for citizens of
Nigeria only and they get their certificate in pdf format.
2.13 CHAPTER SUMMARY
This chapter gives an overview of the Web application for birth and death certificate
request gives an explanation of all concepts, theories, and protocols employed in the

46
course of the project, it includes information on birth registration, relationship between
birth registration and some concepts, benefits of birth registration, limitations and
challenges, history of birth certificate, definition of birth certificate, death registration ,
origin of death registration, death certificate ,e -certificate and related works.

47
CHAPTER THREE
SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
3.1 DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF EXISTING
This is a problem solving technique that decomposes a system into its component pieces
for the purpose of studying how well those component parts work and interact to
accomplish their purpose. System analysis is a term that collectively describes the early
phases of the system development. It is also defined as the project that primarily focuses
on the business problem independent of any technology that can or will be used to
implement solution to that problem. Therefore, system analysis focuses on the problem of
an existing system.
As of recent, citizens still go through the manual process of requesting for birth or death
certificate in Nigeria and end up getting a paper certificate which :
1. Is insecure.
2. Takes times to get.
3. Involves spending a lot of cash to obtain.
4. is inefficient.

48
The effectiveness, consistency and reliability of any system depends largely or can be
measured in terms of the result or output produced by the system. The output produced by
this manual process of requesting for birth or death certificate is nothing to write home
about. In other to improve on the output, this project aims to develop a Web application
for birth and death certificate request that would allow citizens to be able to request for
their birth or death certificate at any time they need, at any place and get it in a digital
format which is cheaper and secure.
3.2 DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM
The proposed system is made up of a two level architecture, the front-end, which is the
actual program and the back-end which is the underlying database. The user interface
would consist of two section for the users section. Here, the user would be able register
on the website . Then the user can login to the website with a user-name and password.
The user fills an applicant form then afterwards uploads a scanned copy of any proof of
identity. The user also uploads proof of birth or death depending on whichever he/she
needs. Then proceeds to fill the birth or death certificate form as needed. The user the
pays the necessary fee for the selected certificate through the payment gateway.Then the
administrator section, the admin logins to the website. The admin is able to see all the
applicants at once, the admin is able to view the details of each user that have applied, the
proof of identity and proof of birth or death. The admin makes necessary verification He
can then approve the application for a certificate after verifying citizen’s payment.The
admin then messages the user that the certificate is ready for download. The user logs into
the website to download the certificate in Adobe Portable Document Format.

49
The database will store the information :
 on the details of registered users who have applied
 of the details on the birth certificate
 Of the deatails on death certificate
 on details of admin
3.2 FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Functional requirements shows what the system does and is expected to do. It is a
description of activities and services a system need to provide. These requirements are
tangible and more easily identified.
 Register
Users register on the web application by supplying basic information to ensure they are
legitimate

50
 Certificate Application
The application is the core functionality of the proposed system.It is what the system has
been designed for essentially. Simple, fast and efficient certificate application system will
be needed to enable citizens to fill an applicant form, the user will upload a proof of
identity, a proof of birth or death, the user will fill a birth certificate form or death
certificate form
 Online Payment
This functionality will enable users to be able to pay for birth or death certificate online
through the payment gateway using visa card,master card and verve card.
 Download Certificate
The download certificate functionality enables the citizen to download the certificate in
pdf format after it has been approved by the admin.
 Edit Profile
This functionality enables the admin to update his/her details
 Search

51
This functionality enables the admin to be able to search for a particular applicant from
the list of applicants.
 View
This functionality allows the admin to be able to view the details of an applicant, the
proof of identity and proof of birth or death.
 Approve
This functionality allows to admin to approve the application for a certificate by the user.
 Send Message
This functionality enables the admin to send email to the users who have applied for a
certificate.
3.3 NON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS
These are not associated with any functions of the system but uploading these
requirements allow for a better and higher quality system to be produced.
 Stability

52
The system should work flawlessly and error messages are to be virtually eliminated. If
the system was online, it would be expected to be running regardless of the load of users
simultaneously accessing the system.
 Fast response time
To achieve satisfaction on all users, the response time of the proposed system should be
preserved carefully. Most of the users will feel irritated or disturbed to wait for an
extended loading time. Hence, user might not want to continue by the time loading ends.
Performance of the system is also important as users will determine the success of a
proposed system.
 User interface
Basically, it is important that the proposed system achieve features that are user-friendly
so that it will be applicable for all users. Functions in the system should be
understandable so that users can adapt to use the system easily and quickly. It is
significant that the user interface of the system will meet the users’ requirements and thus,
the acceptance of the users on this system will eventually determine the success or failure
on the proposed system.

53
3.4 USE CASE DIAGRAM
Use case diagrams have two main components,actors and use cases. The actors represent
people who will have a key role in the system and the use cases represent the main
functions in the system. Linking an actor to a use case illustrates that a specific actor
initiates specific function. Use case diagrams are usually used to describe these
relationships that take place between actors and use cases in a system. (Bruegge & Dutoit ,
2000).

54
Register
Login
Fill applicant form
Fill birth certificate form
Download certificate
Login
Update profile
View applicant details
citizen
Admin
Fill death certificate form
Upload proof of identity
Upload proof of birth/death
Pay for certificate
View proof of birth/death/identity
Search applicant
Send Message
Approve Certificate

55
Figure 3.1 Use Case Diagram of Proposed System
It shows the two actors in the system which are the admin and citizen. It shows the
functions they perform represented by oval.
3.5 DATA FLOW DIAGRAM
The Data Flow Diagram (DFD) is a graphical representation of the flow of data through
an information system. It enables you to represent the processes in your information
system from the viewpoint of data. The DFD lets you visualize how the system operates,
what the system accomplishes and how it will be implemented, when it is refined with
further specification.
Data flow diagrams are used by systems analysts to design information-processing
systems but also as a way to model whole organizations. You build a DFD at the very
beginning of your business process modelling in order to model the functions your
system has to carry out and the interaction between those functions together with
focusing on data exchanges between processes. You can associate data with conceptual,
logical, and physical data models and object-oriented models.

56
3.5.1 CONTEXT DIAGRAM
Figure 3.2 Context Diagram for Proposed System

57
This gives an overview of the proposed system, it shows the flow between the admin and
the system and the flow of data between the citizen and system.
3.6 ENTITY RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAM
E-R model is one of the commonest and successful types of data model around. Its basic
elements are: Entities, Attributes, and Relationships (Date, 2005)
Figure 3.3 E-R Diagram of Proposed System

58
This shows the graphical representation of the database schema for the proposed system
having entities applicant,birth certificate, death certificate, and admin and the relationship
between them and their cardinality.
3.7 ENTITY-RELATIONAL MODEL

59
Figure 3.4 Entity-Relational Model of Proposed System
This shows the graphical representation of the database schema for the proposed system
having entities applicant,birth certificate, death certificate, and admin..
3.8 DATABASE DESIGN
 Table 3.1 : ADMINS TABLE
This table contains all the information the system needs to have about the administrator
ATTRIBUTES DATATYPE DESCRIPTION
Admin_id Int Holds admin id
Username Varcahr Admin’s username to login
Password Varchar Admin’s password
Fullname Text Admin’s fullname

60
Path Varchar admin’s signature
Email Varchar Admin’s email address
 Table 3.2 : APPLICANT TABLE
This holds data for the citizens that have registered on the system.
Id Int This holds the citizen’s id
Full name Varchar Citizen’s full name

61
Relationship Int This holds the relationship
of the citizen with the
owner of the certificate
Certificate Int This holds the type of
certificate
Approve Int Certificate Approved or not
Status Varchar Status of certificate
Email Varchar Citizen’s Email
Password Varchar Citizen’s password
Username Varchar Citizen’s Username

62
Date Of Application Date Date Citizen applied
Age Int Age of Citizen
Path Varchar Holds proof of birth or
death
Path1 Varchar Holds proof of identity
 Table 3.3 : BIRTH
This table holds the details on the birth certificate
Id Int Birth certificate Id

63
Full name Varchar Full name of the owner of
certificate
Sex Int Gender of the owner of
certificate
State Int State of the owner of
certificate
Lga Varchar Local government Area of
the owner of certificate
Town Varchar Town of the owner of
certificate
Mother_name Varchar Mother’s name of the

64
Father_name Varchar Father’s name of the
Dob Date Date of birth of the owner
of the certificate
Address Varchar Address of the owner of
certificate
Date_Of _Application Timestamp The date the certificate
was applied for
Applicant_id Int The id of the applicant for
the certificate

65
 Table 3.4 : DEATH
This table holds the details in the death certificate
Id Int Death certificate Id
Full name Varchar Full name of dece
Sex Int Gender of deceased
PlaceOfDeath Varchar Place of death of deceased
AgeAtDeath Int The age the deceased

66
DoctorName Varchar The name of the doctor that
issued the death
Town Text The town of the deceased
State Int The state of deceased
Lga Text Local government area of
the deceased
Marital_status Int Marital status of the
deceased
CauseOfDeath Text Cause of death of the
deceased
Applicant_id Int Id of the applicant for the

67
certificate
3.9 CHAPTER SUMMARY
This chapter gives the analysis of the existing system and that of the proposed system. It
discusses about the functional and non-functional requirements of the system. The
functions in the system is represented with a Use Case diagram. The flow of data in the
system is represented with a Data Flow Diagram. The database schema of the system is
represented with an Entity-Relationship diagram and Entity-Relational Diagram. Finally
it shows the design of the database by presenting in tables.

68
CHAPTER FOUR
SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION AND DOCUMENTATION
4.1 CHOICE OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE USED
The software was developed using PHP, MSQLI, Bootstrap web template. PHP was used
in developing the package because it allows relational DBMS facilities such as file
manipulation and relational capabilities. It allows indexing and searching of database. It
minimizes the need for memory allocation, variables etc. It is also useful for information
application services.
4.2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
The hardware and software specification chosen for this system were carefully selected,
taken to consideration the expected large volume of data/ information to be handled by
the country, types of processing needed to achieve meaningful objectives, cost of
obtaining the hardware and software components.
4.2.1 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
The system will function effectively on a personal computer with the following
specifications :
 Intel(R) with at least 1.33GHz Processor speed

69
 At least 250MB Had disk
 A monitor screen
 Keyboard
 32MB for RAM
4.2.2 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
The software requirements include :
 Windows 8, 8.1, 10
 Web Server
 Web Browser
4.3 MODULES EXPLANATION (DOCUMENTATION)
The functions used are written in a file named config.php
Function username_exist()
This method checks whether a particular username already exists in the database.

70
Function email_exist()
This method checks whether a particular email already exists in the database.
Function login_user()
This function checks if a username and password already exists in the database
hence allowing user to login if it exists and otherwise.
Function user_exist()
This method checks if an admin username exists in the database.
4.4 USER’S MANUAL
This shows the user how the system is going to be used for its purpose.
4.4.1 RUNNING THE SYSTEM
To run the system, do the following:
 Launch Google Chrome and type
http://localhost/bs-advance-admin/advance-admin/nregister.php
 The registration page will be displayed

71
 After registration, Click on the login link to log on to the application
 On log in, the index page is displayed
 The procedure for navigating through the application should be read by the user on
the index page.
 The user should follow the necessary procedures.

72
4.5 IMPLEMENTATION MODEL
The patterns of operations and characteristics of the framework established in previous
sections in conjunction with the deductions made by the software systems developer,
determined to a large extent the technique of implementation.
Analysis tools such as Use case Diagrams, Data flow diagrams Entity Relationship models
etc. were converted to their equivalent data structure PHP. The framework incorporated all
these stages into a single system that could manage and control all activities and processes in
the project.
4.5.1 COMPONENT DIAGRAM
Component diagram shows all the different software applications and their associated
software that are associated with a system. It indicates the necessary interdependency
between the software’s that ensure the system runs smoothly.

73
Figure 4.1 Component Diagram of Birth and Death Certificate Request Application
(B.D.C.R)

74
In fig 4.1 the component diagram of the Birth and Death Certificate Request Application
indicates that it has two major interfaces the admin and the citizen interface these
interfaces are dependent on the logic in the main application for their functionality. The
main application pulls data that is to be displayed on these interfaces from a database
through a database management system over a network.
ELEMENT DESCRIPTION
The Birth and Death Certificate request
application is the main software
application it consists of all the user
interfaces used to perform various
functions in the application

75
The Admin Graphical User Interface is a
part of the software and is made available
to the admin which is the registrar.
The Citizen Graphical User Interface is a
part of the software and is made available
to registered users
The Network connection is the means by
which the application connects with the
server to access and store data located on
its database.

76
Apache Wamp Server is a local server
located on my computer system used to
store the database management system on
which the B.D.C.R database is stored.
MySQL is the database management
system that provides a graphical user
interface for the efficient management of
the B.D.C.R database.

77
The B.D.C.R database is a collection of
records stored in tables used not only to
ensure the efficient running of the B.D.C.R
application but also to make predictions
Table 4.1 Description of elements in the component diagram

78
4.6 SCREEN SHOTS
Below are the screen shots of the program design
The register page allows a users that have not registered to enter his/her username,
password, and email address in a register form enabling the user to register. The chosen
username and password will be used to login anytime.

79
Figure 4.2 Register Page
The login page allows a user to log into the system, it allows unregistered users to
navigate to the register page so as to register.

80
Figure 4.3 Login page
The home page appears when the user name and password has been verified. It shows the
navigation links on the system and the procedure for applying for a certificate

82
The Applicant page allows a user to fill in his/her details in the applicant form
Figure 4.5 Applicant Page

83
The birth certificate page allows a user to fill in his/her details on the certificate or the
owner of the certificate. There is link to pay for the certificate online and to get the
certificate
Figure 4.6 Birth Certificate page

84
The death certificate page allows a user to fill in details of the owner of the certificate.
There is link to pay for the certificate online and to get the certificate.
Figure 4.7 Death Certificate Page

85
The Admin Panel page allows the admin to view the users that have applied for a
particular certificate. The admin can also approve the certificate.
Figure 4.8 Admin Panel Page

86
The admin edit profile page allows the admin to update his/her profile. The admin also
uploads his/her signature.
Figure 4.9 Admin Edit Page

87
The admin login page allows the admin to gain access to the admin panel by entering
username and password
Figure 4.10 Admin login Page

88
The payment page allows the user to pay for the certificate online
Figure 4.11 Payment Page

89
The Pdf Birth Certificate page displays the users birth certificate in pdf and allows the
user to download or print the certificate.
Figure 4.12 Pdf birth certificate page

90
The Pdf Death Certificate page displays the users death certificate in pdf and allows
the user to download or print the certificate.
Figure 4.13 Pdf death certificate Page

91
The view applicant and proof page displays the details of the applicant and the proof of
identity, proof of birth or death.
Figure 4.14 View Applicant and Proof Page

92
The Email Page allows to the admin to send emails to the users that have applied either
upload proof of identity, proof of birth or death, pay fees or to download certificate.
Figure 4.15 Email Page

93
4.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY
This chapter talks about the choice of programming language used, the system
requirements, the hardware requirements, the software requirements, the functions used
in the program, the system can be run by the user, the component diagram and
screenshots of the software.

94
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONN AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 SUMMARY
This project is titled “Development of a Web application for birth and death certificate
request” using the National Population Commission of Nigeria as a case study.
This project was carried out because of the need for citizens to apply for birth & death
certificate which helps the national population commission to have citizen’s birth and
death record thereby leading to the development of a web based application that will
enable citizens to apply for birth or death certificate and pay online and also get the
certificate in pdf format.
The system has different modules which are sign up ,login, fill applicant form, fill birth or
death certificate form, pay for certificate online and get certificate in pdf format. Login,
update profile and approve certificate by admin.
5.2 CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the application should be able to perform all the modules and purpose of
its development which is to enable citizens obtain their certificate faster, efficiently and in
pdf format.

95
5.3 RECOMMENDATION
During the design of this application every effort was made to incorporate the appropriate
functionalities into the application but has with all software application one can not
foresee every functionality required by the users. It is therefore my recommendation that
effort be taken to review users report on the application in order to know which areas of
the application to improve on and which functionalities to add.
5.4 CHAPTER SUMMARY
This chapter gives a summary of the entire project and conclusions drawn up at the end of
the project as well as recommendations.

96
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