🇳🇬 Nigeria
New dad: from the first plans to the first years
Appointments, feeding, nights and paperwork. Take it one stage at a time, together.
Your timeline
Birth to two weeks
Share feeding, changing, soothing and meals. Confirm follow-up appointments and the birth-registration deadline. Never shake a baby; if overwhelmed, put them safely down and take a short break.
Leave and family paperwork
Employment leave, birth registration and legal parenthood are separate matters. Sort them out before birth where possible, using the rules for your employment sector and family circumstances. Do not assume that an overseas policy—or another family's experience—establishes your rights.
Identify the rules covering your job
Establish whether your role is in private employment, the federal public service or a state/local public service. Check your contract, applicable employment rules and current circulars with HR; a federal public-service benefit does not automatically apply elsewhere.
Check eligibility, days and pay
Nigeria has no universal private-sector paternity-leave entitlement. NAN has reported 14 working days in the federal public service; confirm precise current circular eligibility, pay and scheduling with HR. Check state/local service rules separately. For a partner covered by the Labour Act's maternity provisions, the Act provides six weeks before and six weeks after birth, with at least half pay after six months' qualifying employment; scope and any more generous terms matter.
Give notice and confirm arrangements
Ask which notice deadline, documents and approval process apply to your employment. Keep a written record and confirm leave dates, pay handling, whether days can be split and any additional contractual options. Do not assume another employer's conditions apply.
Clarify protection and disputes
Do not assume a blanket dismissal-protection period applies to paternity leave. If leave is refused or you face threats or penalties, retain relevant correspondence and seek advice from the relevant labour authority, union or a Nigerian employment lawyer.
Plan birth registration
Register the birth promptly with the National Population Commission (NPC), within the statutory 60 days. A hospital birth record is not the official NPC birth certificate. Confirm the required documents and current registration channel, digital-service availability and any fee information directly with NPC. Adult attestation procedures are not newborn registration.
Separate parentage from registration
Birth registration does not itself grant citizenship, and leave does not establish legal parenthood. For parentage, parental responsibility, child maintenance or cross-border questions, consult NPC where relevant and an independent Nigerian family lawyer. Obtain case-specific advice rather than assuming a certificate settles every issue.
Health and emergency contacts
This site does not replace medical advice. For a life-threatening emergency, call 112.