Skip to main content

Over 100 Million Nigerians have no identity


The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) says over 100 Million Nigerians have no identity.

The Director General of NIMC, Aliyu Aziz, made the disclosure on Wednesday during a zoom meeting with editors.  

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Aziz spoke on the topic: “Strategic Roadmap for ID Development.’’

He said, “Over 100 million Nigerians have no identity (ID).

“These include the poorest and the most vulnerable groups, such as the marginalised – women and girls, the less-educated people, migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, people with disabilities and people living in rural and remote areas.

“The estimated population of Nigeria stands at 200 million. Only about 38 percent of the population have any form of ID,’’ he said.

According to the NIMC boss, the commission has enrolled and issued 41.5 million unique identifiers, known as National Identification Numbers (NIN), since the commencement of identity registration and enrolment in 2012.

According to him, the commission registers all Nigerian citizens physically present and those outside Nigeria as well as the legal residents.

“Between 2012 till date, only 41.5 million citizens and legal residents have been enrolled into the National Identity Database (NIDB) and issued unique NIN, an average of 5.2 million enrollments per annum.

“At this rate, it will take a long time to enroll the remainder of the people currently living in the country today, and by that time, about 292 million more people would have been added.

“Hence the need for a strategy to enroll the backlog within the shortest possible time. And that is the reason for the idea of strategic roadmap and the birth of the ecosystem approach,’’ he said.

Mr Aziz said that while the identity card could expire, the National Identification Numbers (NIN) issued was for a lifetime.

He stressed the need for people to be registered for documented identity, saying it mattered a lot, especially for development.

“Identity matters a lot for development, as inclusive and trusted ID systems can help achieve the goals of empowering individuals and enhancing their access to rights, services and the formal economy.

“It helps in strengthening transparency, promoting efficiency and effectiveness in governance, service delivery and accountability.

“It also supports private sector development and service delivery, grows digital economy as well as regional and global integration as well as generates reliable data.

“Good ID system supports development goals, including access to finance, gender and equality, empowerment, access to basic health and education services, child protection, migration and labour market opportunities, improved access and quality of social protection as well as governance,’’ he said.

Mr Aziz said that people were registering more in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and Kano compared with other cities, while residents in states in the South-East appeared to show little interest in the identity capturing.

The NIMC director-general said that the commission had entered strategic partnerships with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), National Orientation Agency (NOA), Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and other media agencies to sensitise Nigerians on the importance of identity registration.

 

Source: NAN

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abuja Bank Robbery: Police Arrest Alleged Mastermind source: Channels The Federal Capital Territory Police Command has arrested the mastermind of the foiled robbery of a first-generation ba nk in the Mpape area of Abuja last Saturday. The suspect, a barman identified as Ernest was nabbed at his hideout by police detectives and is presently being held at the command headquarters by old CBN building, Garki, Abuja. The police had earlier arrested four suspects and gunned down the fourth member of the robbery gang identified as Patrick during the operation. The FCT Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma, had on Tuesday paraded the gang members including a bank employee, Larry Ehizo, 30, Timothy Joe, 21, Princewill Obinna, 24 and Elijah David, 19. Ehizo who allegedly drove the gang members to the bank claimed he was blackmailed by Ernest to carry out the heist. Narrating how the failed heist was executed, David said Ehizo informed the gang members that the r...
Post a Comment
Read more
GAMBIA PRESIDENT CALLS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF ECOWAS PROTOCOLS  Banjul The President of Gambia,  Adama Barrow has stressed the need for ECOWAS member States to put sharper focus on the implementation of ECOWAS Protocols in order to achieve greater regional integration.  President Barrow, while declaring open on Thursday, the Parliamentary Seminar for the Outgoing Fourth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament, taking place in Banjul, Gambia, pointed out that institutional capacity remains a major driver of regional integration and must therefore be prioritized.  The Gambian President, while also bemoaning the high rate of youths migration into Europe,  charged political leaders in the subregion to seek to entrench the respect for the fundamental principles of good governance and dialogue as a means of conflict resolution, in order to provide the needed environment for young people to thrive. "We are saddened by the dangerous journeys our youths...
Post a Comment
Read more

LIBERIA JEWEL TAYLOR CHALLENGE ECOWAS PARLIAMENT ON GENDER EQUALITY

The vice President of Liberia has challenged the ECOWAS Parliament to push for appropriate implementation of the community protocol on gender and human equality across regional and local governments. Vice President Jewel Taylor made this request while concluding her keynote address presented before the Plenary at the official opening of the First Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament seating in Abuja. Jewel stated that Gender equality is a fundamental human right, yet women are underrepresented in power and decision making roles, women around the region do not fully experience equal rights and their potential as economic, social and sustainable change-agents remains untapped. She said “Excellency, special guest, distinguish members of the ECOWAS Parliament, as I close, permit me to say I will be remiss if I remain silent at this august gathering of regional leaders about the perennial issue of the lack of gender inequality in our local and regional body politics; ...
Post a Comment
Read more