The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) disclosed that nearly 90 million people have registered for the National Identification Number (NIN).
Aliyu Aziz, Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the NIMC, made the announcement on Friday in Abuja at an event commemorating the fourth National Identity Day under the theme ‘Traditional Institutions as Critical Stakeholders for Citizens Mobilisation.’
“Without sounding immodest, NIMC has made great strides on so many fronts in the last three years,” he said.
“From just over 1,000 enrolment centres and 2,000 enrolment devices across the country, NIMC in partnership with its licensed enrolment partners now has over 15,000 enrolment centres and over 29,000 enrolment devices deployed nationwide.
“This is one of the reasons enrolments have increased tremendously with over 89 million NINs generated successfully.
“On the international level, NIMC today has diaspora enrolment centres in over 40 countries, with more centres and countries scheduled to be added in the coming months.”
According to Aziz, the development will allow Nigerians in the diaspora to enroll and maintain their national identity while living outside the country.
According to him, the more the government knows about its population and demographics, the better it can plan for infrastructure, social welfare, and economic development.
The NIMC chief believes that this emphasizes the importance of identity and is directly related to the importance of commemorating Nigerian National Identity Day.
He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for his unwavering support for the commission throughout his presidency.
“The support of Mr President to NIMC goes to show the importance he places on digital identity,” he said.
“He may not be physically here with us today on this occasion of the fourth edition of Nigeria’s commemoration of Identity Day, but it was the approval Mr President gave in 2019 for every 16th September to be officially marked as Identity Day in Nigeria that provided the platform for today’s ceremony.”
Aziz also thanked Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, for being at the forefront of spearheading the commission’s programs.
He stated that the transfer of NIMC to the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy has improved and strengthened the commission’s fortunes.
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The Herald recalls that Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, on Friday claimed that the National Identification Number (NIN) and Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) linkage policy put his life in danger.
Pantami, who highlighted some of the benefits of the integration exercise, stated that many criminally inclined individuals criticized him for driving the policy’s implementation.
Aside from the threat to his life, the minister hinted that defamation campaigns were allegedly launched against him in order to put a stop to the policy.