By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has directed the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to increase the monthly National Identification Number (NIN) enrolment from the estimated 500,000 registrations to 2.5 million.
This came from the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr Isa Ali Pantami, when he received a briefing from the management team of the NIMC on their activities following the final transfer of the supervision of the commission to the Ministry.
Business Post had reported in August that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the transfer of the body to the ministry to drive the realisation of the objectives of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria (NDEPS).
A statement from the spokesperson of the Minister, Mrs Uwa Suleiman, reiterated that digital identity remains one of the key requirements of any digital economy and it is captured under pillar number 6 of NDEPS.
During the visit, Mr Pantami commended the Director-General of NIMC, Mr Aliyu Aziz, for his commitment and passion, noting that there has been a considerable increase in enrolments since he became the Chief Executive Officer of NIMC.
He then charged the agency on the need to raise the bar even higher by ensuring that the enrolment rate is 5 times the current rate. He said this is imperative because the NIN will soon be made mandatory for accessing government services and interventions.
The Minister used the opportunity of the meeting to discuss the challenges fighting against the success of NIMC’s activities, including the challenge of inadequate funds. He assured the NIMC team that he will do all he can to address these challenges.
He also stated that he will continue to meet with NIMC regularly until he is certain the performance of the commission is enhanced significantly and efficient services are offered to Nigerians.
He directed the NIMC DG to set up complaint units in all the commission’s centres in order to ensure that the complaints of the citizens are promptly addressed.
He also directed the agency to interface more with citizens and to also run awareness campaigns on all media channels and in Nigerian languages to encourage citizens to obtain their digital identity.
Meanwhile, the Minister also stated that he is committed to ensuring that citizens easily obtain secure digital identity and urged them to enrol as soon as possible.
“The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy is committed to supporting NIMC to ensure that Nigerians derive the benefits of a functional digital identity system. Nigerians are encouraged to visit NIMC accredited centres soon for their digital identity,” he added.
Modupe Gbadeyanka