Securing Citizenship through NIN Registration
The warning by the National Identity Management Commission that all Nigerians must register and obtain the National Identity Number or risk losing their nationality, has compelled more Nigerians to begin the process of registration, writes Emma Okonji
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) commenced registration of National Identity Number (NIN) in 2012 and the issuance of electronic identity cards in 2014. However, the response to the registration has been very slow, a situation that has been blamed on two factors. The first factor is that most Nigerians are skeptical that the idea of issuing new electronic identity cards may not fly, given past experiences when national identity cards were registered for by many but issued to only few Nigerians. The second factor is on the delay by NIMC to issue the new electronic identity cards to several Nigerians that had already registered since the commencement of the registration exercise in 2012.
Giving reasons for the delay in issuing the new electronic identity cards to those that have registered and obtained their NIN, the Director General at NIMC, Aliyu Aziz, said over 20 million people have registered and obtained their NIN. He said the commission had been able to print only 1.2 million identity cards among, while less than one million have been issued. He, however, blamed the delay on paucity of funds occasioned by economic recession, but advised Nigerians who are yet to register and obtain their NIN, to do so without further delay or risk losing their national identity as Nigerians in few years’ time.
Rush for registration
Following the warning issued by NIMC that Nigerians who fail to register for NIN and obtain national identity card, risk losing their national identity in a matter of few years, the number of registration for NIN surged, according to NIMC. Head, Corporate Communications at NIMC, Mr. Loveday Ogbonna told THISDAY that as at two weeks ago when the warning was issued by the Director General, the commission registered 18.5 million persons, but that as at this week, the number of registration increased to over 20 million, an indication that Nigerians are not willing to lose their national identity. He said the number registration is increasing by the day and that more people now visit the 809 NIN enrollment centres spread nationwide on a daily basis, unlike before when registration officers were virtually idle because few people going to register at the designated centres.
According to Ogbonna, the ongoing harmonisation of data, beginning with the data from SIM card registration, coupled with the registered BVN data, is fast driving the NIN registration process across the country.
Threat of losing national identity
Given the low NIN registration experience across the country , Aziz, had penultimate week in Lagos, warned that Nigerians who were yet to register and obtain their NIN, may run the risk of being regarded as non-Nigerian citizen in the next few years.
He spoke of the commitment and renewed efforts of the federal government, through NIMC, to enlighten Nigerians on the importance of enrolling to obtain the National Identification Number, but explained that Nigerians were not keen at registering to obtain their NIN, since less than 10 per cent of the Nigerian population of 170 million has registered as at two weeks ago.
“It is the duty of every citizen to enroll and obtain his or her NIN, which entitles one to be fully regarded as a Nigerian citizen,” he stated, adding that without the NIN, anyone’s claims of being a Nigerian citizen are doubtful, as stipulated in the NIMC Act.
According to him, “the Commission has enrolled only 18.5 million Nigerians, into the national identity database, as at two weeks ago, out of the over 170 million Nigerian population, which is less than 10 per cent of the entire population of Nigerians.”
He, however, said the registration number had increased, since the warning was issued.
He said registration centres are located in NIMC offices and other designated centres across every state and local government areas of the country. He insisted that all Nigerians, irrespective of their age, were expected to enroll and obtain their NIM, through which the national identity card would be produced and issued. He, however, said identity cards would not be issued to minors until they attain the age of 18, but that it was necessary for them to enroll and obtain their NIN.
Benefits
Reeling out the many benefits of NIN and the national identity card, Aziz said they included: one person one identity; enhances participation in the political process; important tool for fight against corruption and terrorism; enables citizens to exercise their rights and facilitates management of subsidies and safety net.
Other benefits are: the facilitation of service delivery in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs); enhancing activities of law enforcement agencies thereby providing public safety; policing; national security and border protection, among others.
Achievements
Aziz, who was appointed in November 2015 as the DG of NIMC, listed some of the key achievements of the Commission to include: the population of the National Identity Database, which currently boasts of about 20 million records; the establishment of up to 809 NIN enrollment centres nationwide; launch of the new electronic National ID Card with multiple functions; achievement of GVCP Certification and recertification of the NIMC Card Personalisation Bureau in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, among other achievements.
He, however, named funding as the overriding hindrance of the Commission in executing its mandate.
The NIMC DG used the opportunity to clarify the misconception held in some sections of the society that NIMC’s primary role was merely the production and issuance of national identity cards to citizens, which he said go beyond registration and issuance of national identity cards. Achieving single database Despite the achievements of NIMC in registering Nigerians to obtain their NIN, and the national identity card, Nigerians have called on NIMC to expedite action on its harmonisation exercise in order to achieve a single database for Nigerians.
Reacting to calls for harmonisation and integration, Aziz told THISDAY that NIMC had begun the process of harmonisation with data from SIM card registration, but insisted that the process of achieving a single database would take the next three years to achieve.
According to Aziz, NIMC was established by Act No. 23 of 2007, to register and maintain a unique national identity database, and to harmonise and integrate existing identification databases in Nigeria, and it has since commenced the process of harmonisation and integration of existing databases in the country, beginning with BVN database. He, however, expressed worries about limited funding, occasioned by the current recession facing the country, which he said, is slowing down the pace of harmonisation and integration.
Nigerians are of the view that should there be a single database agencies will easily log on the single portal to get the desired data, instead of duplicating same data in different databases that operate in silos without the necessary integration.